LAGOS – The Federal Government has said that it will not sit by and allow fake news and hate speech to rule the airwaves.
It has therefore, vowed to continue to evolve ways to tackle fake news and hate speech.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made the vow on Sunday during an interaction with Online Publishers in Lagos.
According to him, fake news and hate speech remain clear and imminent danger to the polity, saying “It is in this light that we are once again asking you to join us in pushing this campaign.
Mr. Mohammed states further, “While the national campaign has succeeded in putting the issue of fake news and hate speech on the front burner of national discourse, the menace has yet to go away.
“Let me be clear: we didn’t think the issue will suddenly disappear, but we also didn’t think it will get worse, which is what it is now.
“It is in this light that we are once again asking you to join us in pushing this campaign. No group is better placed than you, Online Publishers, to lead the campaign against fake news and hate speech, which I call the the Siamese twins of evil.
“No responsible government will sit by and allow fake news and hate speech to rule the airwaves, because of the capacity of this menace to exploit our national fault lines to set us against each other and trigger a national conflagration. That is why we will continue to evolve ways to tackle fake news and hate speech until we banish both.”
The minister said that he recently set up a committee on the implementation of the recommendations that were approved by Mr. President to inject sanity into the nation’s broadcast industry,following the unprofessional and unethical conduct of some broadcast stations, especially before and during the last general elections.
He however, vowed that “No amount of attacks, sponsored or otherwise, will stop the implementation of the approved recommendations. Only those who are guilty should be afraid of the efforts to sanitize the broadcast industry.
“We expect you to remain in the vanguard of the efforts to tackle fake news and hate speech. We expect you to educate our people on the efforts being made, especially by the government, in this regard.
“This Administration has no intention of muzzling the media or stifling free speech. Our campaign is against fake news and hate speech. And we will not rest until our media space has been rid of fake news and hate speech.”, the minister assured.
