Federal government has raised the alarm over the increasing wave of fake news and disinformation traversing social media 24 days before the 2023 general elections.
The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the 21st edition of the PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) said the opposition parties were deliberately using fake news to undermine the elections.
Mohammed said fake news and disinformation constitute a potent threat to the elections because they were capable of hampering its success.
According to him, “I can say, unequivocally, that there has been a worrisome and astronomical increase in the use of fake news and disinformation, making this a clear and present danger to the success of the elections.
“This increase is undoubtedly the work of some destabilising agents, some of them linked to the opposition,” Mohammed said.
He said their sole aim is to destabilise the electoral process and plunge the nation into crisis.
He reiterated that the Buhari-led government will not allow some miscreants with access to phones and data to destabilize the country.
He, however, warned purveyors of fake news and disinformation to desist.
The minister added that the government is looking for the best options to ensure that the agents of destabilisation do not thwart the success of the elections with their unscrupulous resort to fake news and disinformation.
