Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has branded new social media as a purveyor of falsehood and fake news.
He said that, but his greatest worry is that the traditional media has fallen flat for such news items carried by the social media.
Lai Mohammed who spoke today, Friday when he paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of Daar Communications warned that if the trend is not checked, the credibility of the media would be damaged while endangering the peace and security of the country.
“The country today is under the siege of disinformation and fake news. Unfortunately, this dangerous trend, if not checked by the media, especially the traditional media, is capable of tearing the fabric of the society and bringing the country to its knees.”
The minister noted that even a section of the traditional media are in the habit of amplifying the disinformation and the fake news being spread on social media, appealing to the traditional media to remain the most credible platform and refuse to join forces “with the purveyors of falsehood.
“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. 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.”
The minister expressed concern that in the past few weeks, the media was saturated with false news on the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, and that despite official denial, some people did not believe the government because of the lies they have read in social media.
This was even as the Executive Chairman of Daar Communications, Raymond Paul Dokpesi, said that the emergence of fake news is a global phenomenon, adding however that the media group has been absolutely committed to upholding the highest standard of journalism. [myad]
