FG urges UNESCO to help in the fight against fake news

The Federal Government on Thursday called on UNESCO to use its global platform to join in the fight against the spread of fake news.

“UNESCO needs to help governments and the public by placing emphasis on the fight against fake news as much as it could.”

“In addition to the roles of enhancing access to information and protection of journalists, UNESCO should proffer ways to handle fake news, Minister of Information and Culture,” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said.

He made the call on Thursday at the on-going 41st UNESCO General Conference in Paris.

Mohammed, at a meeting with UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Mr Tawfik Jelassi, said the twin evil of fake news and disinformation had reached an alarming rate globally.

He stressed that the UN organ should use its global platform to confront the menace.

“The challenge is how to handle the twin evil of fake news and disinformation which have the capacity to cause unrest and destroy the essence of society.”

The minister said the advent of new media without regulation had aggravated fake news because social media platforms had become the medium of choice for fake news agents.

“Nigeria is completely different from how it is being perceived from outside.”

“We are yet to see any country that is more liberal than Nigeria in granting access to information by the media even among the developed countries.”

“For 10 years, I was a spokesperson for the opposition and there was never a time I was incarcerated.”

“At the moment we have an extremely tolerant government to the extent that it is the government that is at the mercy of the media in Nigeria,” the minister said.

He added that there were at least 145 online publications that were devoted to harassing the Nigerian government and using the platforms as tools to destabilise the country.

Alhaji Mohammed commended UNESCO for its sterling jobs in the areas of giving access to information, giving capacity for literacy and protection of journalists.