President Muhammadu Buhari says misinformation has been used to aggravate conflicts, exacerbate insecurity, distort government efforts, fuel apprehension among the citizens and create distrust between the governments and their peoples.

He said this at the State House in Abuja yesterday while declaring open the UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week 2022 Feature Conference and Youth Forum hosted by Nigeria.

Buhari, represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, said getting reliable information in the society remained a constant battle as media practitioners and stakeholders within the sector faced the clear and present danger of misinformation.

"We fully recognise and are cognisant that technology and social media offer us nearly limitless opportunities which must be harnessed especially by the youth to strengthen the foundations of our society and our common values.

"However, in confronting challenges of rising misinformation and hate speech, we must also come together to defend freedom of speech, whilst upholding other values that we cherish.

"We must continue to work for a common standard that balances rights with responsibilities to keep the most vulnerable from harm and help strengthen and enrich our communities and most importantly strengthen trust and social cohesion by improving critical thinking competencies to adequately assess the quality of information received and shared which I believe is a key component of the MIL programme this week.