Lagos, Feb. 4, 2019 (NAN) Panelists at a session during the ongoing 2019 Social Media Week (SMW) on Monday in Lagos, South West Nigeria said that news literacy and stiff sanctions could curb fake news, especially in this era of election.
The panelists mde this known while discussing on the topic: « Gate Keeping in the Era of Fake News: The Impact of Social Media during Election ».
A panelist, Adaora Ikenze, Head of Public Policy, West and Central Africa, Facebook, said that Facebook had placed a ban on foreign advert on its platform for political parties in the ongoing electioneering in Nigeria.
According to Ikenze, the ban is to eliminate foreign influence on the country’s election.
« In the past we are aware that there has been misuse of Facebook.
« Facebook is not the policeman of the world.We don’t allow content that is disturbing to remain on the platform.
« Our role is to build a community to engage with each other and it is our duty to make people feel safe on the platform, » she said.
Ikenze urged Nigerians to report disturbing content to Facebook, rather than complaining off line.
Another panelist, Nicholas Ibekwe, Head, Investigations, Premium Times, said that disinformation was as old as man but social media had added scale and speed to fake news.
Ibekwe said that fact checking and media literacy could be used to check fake news.
According to him, the only way to quickly check fake news is through news literacy, which some journalists did not understand.
Ibekwe urged operators of social media platforms to invest in media literacy.
Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade of Google Africa, said that Google was educating users on flagging information that were not factual.
The google spokesman said that within 24 hours, anyone flagged would be investigated and owners of such platforms sanctioned for outright removal.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Social Media Week is an annual event.
The 2019 edition commenced on Feb. 4 and will end on Feb. 8.
