Rep. member urges ministry to address fake news on social media

Hon. Yusuf Yakub, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, has urged the Ministry of Information and Culture to mobilise its information dissemination agencies to address false news on social media.

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Yakub, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said such fake news was hampering government efforts to put across valuable information on its projects and programmes

”Nigerians have observed with dismay, the rising penchant for posting and spreading falsehoods and half-truths messages on  social media in respect to issues surrounding the ongoing campaigns and activities that were aimed at curbing and combating the spread of the COVID– 19 disease.

”As worrisome as some of these pieces of information are, it is however, obvious that many of us continue to “share” these  messages without regards to their veracity or otherwise.

”In fact in many cases, the messages are shared without bothering to crosscheck their original sources,” he said.

Yakub said that Nigerians contributed in spreading falsehood, misinformation, disinformation, panic, hate and other negative broadcast materials that incite fear, anxiety, hatred, panic and even sudden death.

He said the most concern was the continuous broadcast of many variations of a message purported to have emanated from sources in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and other parts of the world.

Yakub advised Nigerians to reject such misinformation that urged people to reject any donation of materials and equipment from China, like Face Masks, Overall Gowns, Blankets and others, intended for use to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the report stated that these materials are all infected and are a means of spreading the disease to other parts of the world.

“The concerns I have raised are based on the threat they pose to parts of our foreign policy objectives and the current initiatives of President Muhammadu Buhari and the House of Representatives at bettering these policies.

“Now is the time for relevant agencies of government like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other law enforcement agencies to again beam their searchlights on the social media.

“Perhaps, this is the right time to test the implementation of parts of that Hate Speech Bill, which has to do with checking the reckless and destructive use and abuse of the beautiful idea and concept of Freedom of Expression,” he said.

Yakub said that such fake news was injurious to existing relations with Nigeria’s partners such as WHO, UNICEF, USAID, Forum of China and Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) among others.

He said that the action also meant that the country had chosen to be alone at this time to fight the battle alone and die alone, adding that “we all need one another”.

Edited By: Chioma Ugboma/Ismail Abdulaziz
(NAN)