Fake news and 2019 polls

The caution issued by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to Nigerians, especially the media, against the spread of fake news, saying it can lead to civil war is one that must be taken seriously rather than treated with levity.
The import of the minister’s warning is the fundamental and salient issue of a peaceful, united, indivisible entity with shared patrimony and a common allegiance facing the threat of extinction.
Mohammed, who has been championing a campaign against fake news, was the chairperson of a conference to address the rise of fake news in Nigeria ahead of the 2019 general election organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
In his opening remark at the two-day conference on Tuesday in Abuja themed: “Democracy and Disinformation: How Fake News Threatens our Freedom and Democracy in Nigeria”, Mohammed said the immediate victims of fake news is the media.
Fake news is not just a threat to the peace and security of a nation but a threat to the existence of the media itself, he said “If Nigerians see a particular media outlet as a purveyor of fake news, then it means the outlet is no longer credible and its fellowship will drop significantly making them to run out of business.” The minister said fake news is the “greatest threat to the 2019 election.
This is why this workshop organized by the CDD and other CSOs to tackle fake news is timely and necessary.” Mohammed further blamed the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to fake news and hate speech.
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority government.
Over 500,000 Rwandans were killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994.
“While it was recently reported that the electoral body has come out with facts that the alleged under aged voting in the February elections in Kano emanated from fake news, the BBC also reported that fake news fuels the herdsmen/farmers clash in Nigeria,” he said.
Mohammed accused opposition parties of alleged planning to use fake news to influence the outcome of the 2019 elections.
“In Nigeria, some opposition leaders are already visiting Georgia, Ukraine and other countries on a mission to use cyber war to influence the outcome of the next election.
That is why we must all stand up against fake news.
” He however expressed hope in the fight against fake news in the social media space.
Earlier in his remark, Jibrin Ibrahim of the CDD said the emergence of the social media gave rise to unrestricted influx of fake news in Nigeria.
Ibrahim cited many examples of fakes news that emanated from the social media such as the monkey pox scare last year, when the army was alleged to be injecting school children with the deadly disease in the South-eastern part of the country.
“We tend to focus too much in this country by what is said by the traditional media but that the fact of the day is that the social media has taken over a lot of production and distribution of news.
Facebook, with 25 million Nigerians commenting every second is the largest newsroom in the country and when such huge newsroom is manipulated, it’s a huge problem.
With 2019 election coming we do have a serious crisis before us and it’s in this context that we feel it’s very important to understand the tactics and strategies used to divide this country through fake news.” The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), experts, journalists, civil society actors, academia and government officials all participated in the conference supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and MacArthur Foundation.
Blueprint observes that despite some pragmatic measures and initiatives by the federal government to stem the rising tide of fake news, which is a global phenomenon, its deleterious effects still pose a potent threat to the corporate existence of the country.
Recently the federal government took a two-pronged approach to tackle the menace of fake news when it launched a national campaign against fake news as well as joined major technology companies, including Google, Facebook, WhatsApp and others, to deploy resources and technology to fight fake news.
We, therefore, urge Nigerians to close ranks and join the federal government in the fight against fake news, particularly with the countdown to the 2019 general elections.
Nigerians should be wary of overzealous and overambitious politicians and refuse to pander to their deceit and theatrics.
The peace and unity of Nigeria cannot and should not be compromised, no matter whose ox is gored.