May 18, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has asked Facebook and other social media platforms to prevent the outlawed South-East separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), from using their platforms to incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in Nigeria.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the demand on Tuesday in Abuja, at a meeting with a team from Facebook.
The minister said Facebook had no justification to yield its platform to IPOB to further its campaign of hate and destabilisation of the country given that the Federal government had proscribed and classified the group as a terrorist organisation.
He said he summoned the meeting to enable the parties discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria.
“For whatever reason, they seem to have now chosen Facebook as their platform of choice. And their tools include disinformation, incendiary statements and hate speech. They use Facebook broadcasts to reach their followers, who are in thousands.
“They tag those opposed to their violent ways as ‘saboteurs’, who must be attacked, maimed and killed. They use both English and their local language as it suits them”, Mohammed said.
He said the actions of the proscribed group have real-life implications, adding: ”By purveying hate and inciting violence, people are getting killed, while private and public property are being attacked and destroyed. Security agencies and other symbols of government are their choice targets.”
The minister lamented that despite the numerous complaints to Facebook on the activities of IPOB, the company did nothing to curtail the group’s excesses on the social media platform.
“Our social media people have been monitoring these separatists, anarchists and purveyors of hate, and have been reporting their atrocious actions to Facebook, but all they get are default responses that their complaints have been received and are being looked into.
“Most often than not, nothing is done about such complaints. The truth is that whatever Facebook is doing to check these people is mere tokenism and is totally ineffective”, he said.
He said the federal government would be monitoring Facebook and other platforms closely in the days ahead to ensure compliance with the demand, as it steps up the campaign for the responsible use of social media.
“We have always advocated a responsible use of social media, and consistently called on all stakeholders to join us in achieving this. Some have tagged our efforts as an attempt to stifle social media.
“They are wrong, because we have no intention of preventing Nigerians from using social media responsibly. All we have been advocating is a responsible use of social media”, he said.
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