The Directorate of State Security(DSS)and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) have called on the Federal Government to put in place legislation to check fake news, Saying it had hampered on tribe and religion beliefs.
DSS Spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya speaking at the Disinformation and Misinformation event in Abuja recently said the Federal Government may need to consider new legislation as part of efforts to curtail the spread of fake news.
Speaking at the event,which was organised by Centre for Democracy and Development, (CDD) Afunanya disclosed that
“In Japan, for instance, and some other countries, there is a common agreement by convention, even by legislation, their media do not report terrorism because, terrorist feed on publicity. Once you cut the oxygen of publicity, they become disinterested in their actions.”
While justifying the rationale for the legislation, he queried the men of the pen profession for taking interest in announcing the number of soldiers killed in a combat rather than reporting how terrorist and Boko Haram members have been attacked, adding that most were afraid of being killed or attacked by Boko Haram.
Afunanya, who insisted the DSS was a victim of the fake news syndrome, identified the false claim that Ibrahim El Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and the former National Security Adviser (NSA) to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki died while in custody of the DSS.
He however called for responsible actions from all stakeholders including traditional rulers, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).
According to him, absolute law and absolute privilege do not exist anywhere except for absolute responsibility.
According to him “There are rights to demonstrations and protests, yes, but there are no absolute rights. You claim the right to freedom of movements but if there is a lawful curfew, that right of movement is restricted. Even rights to life, we do not have the right to take our lives not to talk of others. Understanding all of these will help us to be responsible citizens,” the DSS spokesman said.
In his remarks, Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner, also decried the negative impacts of fake news, especially during elections.
“I join the idea of the past speakers who called for legislation to regulate fake news,” he stated.
But Idayat Hassan from the CDD and Dr. Garba Abari, Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said it would be difficult to gag the social media, but stressed that existing laws on cybersecurity and the penal codes should be well implemented.
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