#EndSARS
Social Media Not Our Greatest Threat, Nigerians Tell Lai Mohammed
By Ayodele Oluwafemi
Claims by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed that fake news has become the greatest threat to the country and hence the need to regulate social media have come under intense criticism again on social media platforms.
Mohammed, on Tuesday, told a committee of the House of Representatives that it was imperative for the social media to be regulated before it destroys the country.
The Minister argued that social media and fake news will destroy the country, if the social media are not regulated, noting that the mobilization of the #EndSARS protest was carried out on the social media.
Mohammed said, “The biggest challenge facing Nigeria today is fake news and misinformation. Based on that, we dedicated an entire National Council on Information’s meeting to that issue, after which we launched a national campaign against fake news in July 2018.
“We said, then, that the next war will be fought without a shot being fired, but with the use of fake news. We didn’t stop there. We went on a tour of all media houses to solicit their support in the fight against fake news.
“We launched the campaign to regulate social media, which was bitterly contested by the stakeholders. We kept saying that if we don’t regulate social media, it will destroy us. Social media and fake news will not destroy Nigeria.
“The recent #EndSARS war was fought on social media. They mobilised using the social media. The war today revolves around two things. Smartphone and data and these young men don’t even watch television or listen to radio or read newspapers.
“You will be shocked that when you start arguing with your children, they will be quoting the social media. So, we need a social media policy in Nigeria and we need to empower the various agencies and we need technology to be able to regulate the social media.”
This is not the first time the Information Minister will be striving for the regulation of social media and his latest comment on social media is coming when Nigerians are using social media to lend their voices against police brutality and bad governance in the country.
Many Nigerians have taken to the social media to criticize Mohammed for attempting to suppress the voices of the people on social media through regulation.
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