Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to online publishers to desist from the spread of fake news through their platforms warning that they stand to lose credibility if their publications are identified with fake news.

He spoke during an interaction with online publishers and social media influencers in Lagos on Tuesday, in furtherance of the National Campaign Against Fake News which was launched by the Federal Government in Abuja 11 July 2018.

“Your credibility, and indeed your source of livelihood, is at stake. If the society loses confidence in the media, especially social media, because of fake news, you will be the worst hit.

And we are very close to that point now. Today, nobody knows what to believe anymore. You read something online, and within a few hours, it is denied. The fake news epidemic is spreading fast,” he told the publishers and the influencers.

He urged the publishers to lend their support to the campaign, just like the traditional media has done, saying:

“A starting point is for you to put a banner on your various platforms that says: SAY NO TO FAKE NEWS! Of course, a platform that abhors fake news will not engage in one.”

He also appealed to Nigerians to do two simple things: Before sharing that information on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, ask how credible the source is, and Don’t share any information for which you can’t vouch.

“The war against fake news is a must-win. As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation, Nigeria cannot afford an unbridled spread of fake news. This phenomenon is exploiting our fault lines to aggravate the crises in the country,” the Minister said, adding that the government will neither resort to coercion nor censorship in the campaign.

“Gory pictures from other lands are circulated freely via Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, purportedly being from the killings in Benue or Plateau States,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

The National Campaign Against Fake News is aimed at sensitizing Nigerians to the dangers posed to the peace and security, democracy, and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria by an unbridled spread of false information.

https://lailasnews.com/stop-the-spread-of-fake-news-on-your-platforms-lai-mohammed-to-media-houses/

lalasticlala

Chief Lai Lie....

r

But when will he stop lying? I think that will reduce false or fake news by over 85%

Even what Lai the living legendary liar Muhammed is saying now is still lies because he is the ultimate source of lies, propaganda and fake news.

LMAO

so whats fake about thier news updates ? that you are a pathetic liar ? or that buhari has failed ? or that apc is satanic? or that you back headsmen ? or that you killed unarmed people? or that nigeria wants you out. obviously you are the one spreading fake news about buhari and apc 's failure. nigeria in two words says "stop lying". SEE him mouth like "i'm about to lie"

No be you say bokoharam has been defeated?Was that not a fake news?So he was trying to say that the Fulani herdsmen killings are fake news because of his political fate.What a callous black man.

Fake news is simply news that is not true. Some fake news emanate from the government and its officials in form of propaganda while some come from opposition figures, the privately owned print and electronic media as well as bloggers. Fake news is bad, although the government in power now road on the back of mostly fake news about the immediate past government to climb to power. Even up till now and as the 2019 elections are around the corner, the government in power at the federal level in Nigeria keeps on spewing fake news in form of demonizing of their critics and blaming of the opposition for everything that goes wrong instead of taking responsibility. People hardly trust any information that comes out from the government. For instance, if any government official says it is morning, some people will quickly believe it is evening because it is like their culture to tell lies. Just look at the kind of lies they have been (in my view) paying 'observers' to tell about the recent Ekit State
governorship elections, that it was 'free, fair and credible', that is, after the real observers from over the globe unanimously denounced the said election as falling below expectations! I think this government should lead by example.

The spread of fake news has really affected the political institution which has lead to the destruction of the political structure of this administration. Recently, it was published that the president has offered to Saraki an oil well to keep him at the party which was a false story. Today nobody knows what to believe anymore because of false stories being disseminated across by medias.