Fake News And Social Media Regulation

The issue of regulation of social media is now like a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Recently, efforts had been made by some federal lawmakers to push for the regulation of social media in the country through sponsoring bills aimed at curbing fake news on the Internet.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has not failed to use any given opportunity to canvas for the same course. Appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values to defend the 2021 budget proposal penultimate Tuesday, he said the nation is sitting on a keg of gunpowder regarding the issue of fake news, hence the need for the government to immediately begin to regulate the social media space.
Referring to the recent EndSARS protest across the nation he said, “They mobilised using social media. The war today revolves around two things. Smartphones and data and these young men don’t even watch television or listen to the radio or read newspapers. We are sitting on a time bomb on this issue of fake news.
“Unfortunately, we have no national policy on social media and we need one. When we went to China, we could not get Google, Facebook, and Instagram. You could not even use your email in China because they made sure it is censored and well regulated.”
The Tide had a chat with Rev Fr (Prof) Walter Ihejirika of the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, on the subject matter who called for caution in going about the regulation.
According to him, fake news (patently packaging fake information and dishing it out), violence videos and terrorism, cyber bullying are some of the negative fallouts of the social media technology which governments across the globe have been grappling with.
He pointed out that what many democratic nations have started doing is to mandate the major technological companies that promote social media to take some measures to ensure that all the negative aspects are not promoted.
“Incidentally, the way it is being presented here in Nigeria is as if the government wants to clampdown on the people, prohibiting them from expressing themselves on social media. It is not clear to us what kind of regulation is being proposed by the government. For now, all we have heard is the minister saying that they need to regulate the social media. But we don’t know if what they mean is giving guidelines to technological companies to ensure that they don’t carry on their platforms fake news, violent news, cyber bullying and other such things.
“So we need to get more clarity because at the heart of this social media regulation is the issue of transparency, detailing what constitutes fake news, how you identify fake news and so on and so forth. Without that, it goes back to arbitrary decisions which will no longer be good for freedom of speech which the social media gives. So if you are going to regulate it, you need to have clear principles of regulation.”
The professor of Development Communication and Media Studies advised that the kind of social media regulation existing in China shouldn’t be emulated by Nigeria because China’s system of government is not democratic. Rather, it is a communist, totalitarian government where everybody is expected to conform to a certain way of life. Instead, he said, we should adopt what obtains in other democratic systems – which is to navigate between ensuring freedom of speech and, at the same time, trying to mitigate the negative fallouts of social media technology.
“So what should be done is first of all set up clear parameters for the technological companies that can help them to make an assessment about the news, check out some of these news even if they are published on their platforms. If they do some hard checks and find out that they are not real, they have to take it down. It’s a very difficult issue because invariably, we are now delegating to technological companies, the responsibility of checking out what is true and what is not true; more so, as what is true for one person may not be true for another person.”
He recommended that there should be increased media education aimed at helping people to know their responsibilities in the media, how to use the media responsibly, how to identify fake news and continued social mobilization campaigns to know the dangers of fake news.
The don said though it is the responsibility of the government to put in place proper rules and regulation for the smooth running of the society, they should not be so fast with legislation on social media regulation. Rather, our leaders should primarily put in place good governance where the citizens will feel at ease and at home in their country; where they know there is a sense of equity and justice in the society; where government is seen to be responsible; and where the people can trust the government.
For the citizens, he had this to say, “Every citizen should know the potential dangers of fake news to the well-being of the society. The more we spread fake news, the more we harm our social fabrics, we create enmity among the members of our society, and we weaken our structures and make it difficult for us to cohabit. Every citizen needs to have a rethink. Before you spread or share any information, video or picture, cross-check, be sure that it is really true.”
In the view of the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, Mr. Stanley Job Stanley, while it is true that some people abuse the social media, the government should not embark on the regulation exercise with the intention of gagging the media or social media users “because it is our right to express ourselves. Those who use social media have the freedom to tell what is happening in society.”
According to him, “When you make a law that will deny people the opportunity to express themselves, then you are doing so with bad intention. The regulation should be done with a sincere mind.”
He believes sincere, transparent regulation of social media will help in curbing fake news in the country as punishment meted to some culprits will serve as a deterrent to other intending fake news peddlers.
Stanley advised Nigerians to always ensure that whatever information they are sharing is genuine; form the habit of verifying the source of the information; should be very careful and don’t believe everything they see on social media.
However, for Mrs. Meg Wilson, a teacher, fake news thrives particularly on the social media because the real information is not released to the citizens by those in government which has created a great trust deficit between the leaders and the led. In her words, “there is nothing like fake without the original. If you think social media dishes out fake news, give us the original, the authentic.
“Look at the issue of Lekki shooting, how Lagos State governor and the military have been going back and forth with the account of what transpired that fateful night. Is that not a way of fueling fake news? What can be more fake than telling us one thing and doing the opposite? Social media is one avenue that has helped people to ventilate and trying to take away our voice will not augur well for anybody.
“If you want to curb fake news, if you want the people to do your biddings, be sensitive to their plight, be open, be sincere, identify with them and they will be on your side naturally.”

By: Calista Ezeaku