Nigeria: 2023 - Take Positive Steps to Stop Spread of Fake New, Govt Tells Twitter, Others

14 December 2022
Vanguard (Lagos)
By Soni Daniel and Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

SATISFIED with the efforts of Meta, owners of Facebook and WhatsApp, to check the spread of fake news on its platforms ahead of Nigeria's 2023 elections, the Federal Government has urged other social networking sites to take similar steps to address disinformation and make political advertisements more transparent.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the call at the 12th edition of the ministerial scorecard presentation of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration (2015-2023), in Abuja on Wednesday.

At the briefing, which featured his counterpart in the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs, Chief Umana Umana, the Minister said, "During one of our sessions here, I spoke about the danger posed by fake news and disinformation to the 2023 elections.

"In this regard, I want to acknowledge the announcement by Meta, the owners of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp that it will take clearly outlined steps to protect the integrity of the forthcoming elections. Specifically, meta detail the actions it plans to take to combat disinformation or to make political advertising more transparent.

"The company committed to this actions before, during and after the elections. This is commendable and it is in line with what we have always said, that the platform owners have a big role to play in checking the spread of fake news, disinformation and hate speech via the platforms Meta has demonstrated a great sense of responsibility and I hope the company will live up to its promise.

"We also urge other platform owners like owners of YouTube, and others, owners of Tik Tok, Twitter and telegram group incorporated, owners of telegram messenger to emulate Meta by taking positive steps to check the spread of fake news, disinformation and hate speech via their platform during, and after the 2023 elections."

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