Varsity Don Asks Government To Tackle Cyber Bullying, Fake News

A professor of journalism at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago Iwoye has called on the federal government to urgently mobilise professional media practitioners with necessary technologies to tackle the challenges posed by fake news, cyberbullying, and ethnic profiling, which are currently threatening the peace and stability of the country.

Odunlami said the call has become imperative as the digital space is currently saturated with media absurdities made possible by technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that confuse an average Nigerian into believing the wrong version of the news.

Odunlami made the call while speaking in an interview shortly after delivering the 119th inaugural lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, in the Ijebu North local government area of Ogun State.

Elaborating on the inaugural lecture titled “(Re) moving The Ancient Landmarks, How Technology Deconstructs The Mass Media?” Odunlami noted that not just members of the political class in Nigeria but every other citizen are routine victims of fake news and cyberbullying.

He stressed that Nigerians will be better informed when professionals are empowered with the skills and technologies to publish information first through traditional media.

He cited the fake photo portraying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as sick during the build-up to the 2023 Presidential election and the AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a jumpsuit, among other examples, to emphasise the grave danger of disruptive technology to mass media practice.

The university scholar, however, appealed to the government and stakeholders in the mass media industry to invest in massive digital literacy skills to mitigate the pervasive phenomenon of fake news in the country.