BEVERLY HILLS, February 03, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has urged the media to eschew disinformation and fake news, saying the phenomenon if left unchecked, could damage the credibility of the media and endanger the country’s peace and security.
The minister stated this on Friday in Abuja when he paid a working visit to the headquarters of DAAR Communication Plc, owners of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, declaring that the country is under the siege of disinformation and fake news that can bring the country on her knees if not checked, like it happened in Rwanda.
Mohammed said that the dangerous trend of disinformation and fake news championed by social media and which the traditional media are “unfortunately feeding on, could tear the fabric of society, if not checked.
Alhaji Mohammed recalled the role that disinformation, fake news and hate speeches played in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which over 800,000 people were killed, and urged the media to draw some lessons from that unfortunate development.
“My greatest problem is with the traditional media because most people will probably say Social Media is what it is. But when the traditional media also latches on the same fake news and the same disinformation, then I begin to get worried for many reasons,” he said.
“Number one, it affects the credibility of the media itself and once the media is no longer believed, once the media loses its credibility, then it has serious consequences for the media and the society as a whole.
“There was a time when the spoken and the written words were not challenged or questioned, but today it is not so. About 50 per cent of what we read in the social media is not true but unfortunately even when it is not credible, it goes viral and people believe the fake stories.
“What happened in the last couple of weeks is quite worrisome. Mr. President left for a vacation. When he was leaving, he transmitted the necessary letter to the National Assembly on who was going to act. He said during his vacation, he will also use the opportunity to carry out his routine medical check-up. Within 12 hours of leaving the country, the news was that he had died, and when that was not sustainable, they said he was critically ill.
“Some even went on to say that he was actually flown out of the country in an ambulance, when the whole world saw when he was leaving and it was televised. For a week or so all we heard was this dangerous disinformation.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of Daar Communications Plc. Chief Raymond Paul Dokpesi, said the emergence of fake news is a global phenomenon, but noted that the Media Group has been absolutely committed to upholding the highest standard of journalism.
“The emergence of fake news driven primarily by social media is indeed a global phenomenon,” he said.
“It behoves on us the traditional media to reaffirm our commitment to the highest ethic and standard of journalism, to investigate and fact-check stories before we go to press.
“You are our own minister. After the whole cycle of electioneering, there must be the need to build bridges and move from political mood to governance mood.”
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