Minister for Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed is at the helm of a body that has now revealed plans to police social media.
The body, The National Council on Information (NCI), at the end of Extraordinary Meeting of NCI on Hate Speeches, Fake News and National Unity held on Friday in Jos, released a communique recommending the “setting up of a Council to regulate the use of social media in Nigeria”.
The fear is that due to the widespread use of social media during the 2015 elections and the reliance on people on news spread on social media over conventional news, that there could be an exploitation with fake news and hate speech dominating the sphere.
The Council in a recommendation, suggested that Information managers at state level should open a website to counter report of any misinformation posted by social media as quickly as the hate speeches, misinformation and fake news are posted.
With the constant flow of information, this will be a difficult task indeed.
Also in a bid to spread positivity, the council also recommended that the Federal and State Ministries of Information use jingles to promote peace and come up with cartoons on the TV and Newspapers telling the dangers of fake news and hate speeches.
“The collaboration must start with National Orientation Agency and the state governments,” the Council recommended.