In 2018, the Nigerian Minister for Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, noted that the biggest threat to the 2019 elections was fake news and hate speech. He made this remark during the 47th Meeting of the National Council on Information in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria.
His warning comes at a time when social media and technology have helped to exemplify how damaging the effects of fake news can be on elections, especially after America’s 2016 presidential elections.
In America, The Guardian reports that the ‘alt-right’ (aka the far right) “ensnared the electorate using false stories on social media,” and this played a significant role in the election of the country’s current president.
A Journalism and Computer Science lecturer from the University of Queensland, Dr. Daniel Angus, noted that some people make fake news for fun, while others make it for political purposes.
“Some put it out on the internet as a form of persuasive communication, to try to sway or sow seeds of doubt in people’s mind about the character of an individual, or group,” Dr Angus said. “Some can be forms of astroturfing, where the story is constructed by lobby groups or other professional or political organisations, to try to attempt to discredit someone.”
In response to the overwhelming backlash social media companies received from both users and governments in the aftermath of the American elections and Brexit in the UK/European Union, several companies came together to create tools to help minimise the spread of fake news ahead of elections across the globe.
In Nigeria, fake news has permeated through the masses via platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. People have been able to share false information, propaganda videos and made up quotes through these social media platforms. African Arguments reports that “…on Twitter, bots and trolls working for both Buhari and Atiku’s camps amplify false stories and contribute to the polarisation of the discourse through bullying and intimidation.”
In an attempt to avert the scourge of fake news in Nigeria, several fact-checking services have sprung up. In this vein, several newsrooms and media companies came together to form a coalition of fact checkers known as CrossCheck Nigeria.
“As part of an initiative by First Draft, a British non-profit focused on tackling public misinformation, 16 Nigerian newsrooms are collaborating on CrossCheck Nigeria—a fact-checking project—to debunk fake news as political campaigns heat up ahead of general elections in February. In essence, CrossCheck is about “journalists working together in a transparent way in order to investigate online content,” Phoebe Arnold, a FirstDraft spokesperson told Quartz.”
Through this platform, journalists will debunk fake news by sharing their research and results from fact-finding missions with each other. Quartz reports that “to “narrow the focus,” rather than investigating politicians’ claims at campaign rallies, CrossCheck will focus on debunking false news materials and rumours. Two stories—debunking a false Vladimir Putin quote and alleged photos of army attacks on terrorist group Boko Haram—have already been published by the coalition.”
At the end of Lai Mohammed’s speech on fake news in Nigeria, he remarked that the campaign against the spread of false information and hate speech should not be the responsibility of the government alone, especially as the presidential election draws closer. While it is still too early to tell what the effects of fake news will be on this year’s elections, he commended the media, some government agencies and civil society organisations that had organised workshops and conferences to sensitise the nation on the issue.
