The Federal Government has warned that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder if the issue of fake news is not urgently addressed, insisting on regulation of the social media in the country .
The House of Representatives Committee on Information , National Orientation, Ethics and Values , however , warned against clamping down on free speech and press freedom.
The Minister of Information and Culture , Alhaji Lai Mohammed, while appearing before the committee to defend the 2021 budget proposed by his ministry , noted that the next war to be fought in the country and across the world might be t the social media.
The Minister 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.
“ 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.
The Chairman of the committee , Olusegun Odebunmi , urged the Nigerian government to apply a technology that can regulate the social media and still allow the cyber space in the country to work .
