Combating fake news, hate speech must be deliberate- CITAD

A Civil Society Organisation, Center for  Information  Technology and Development (CITAD) said hate speech and fake news continue to threaten the peace, unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.

CITAD Executive Director,  Yunusa Ya’u made the remarks at a news conference on Thursday in Kano during a book lunch titled “context and content in hate speech discourse in Nigeria and the comprised state” saying a vast number of people believed the messages from social media which is a threat to national security.

Ya’u, noted that the purpose of the presentation of the Books was to validate the research and the major output of drafting a Journalists’ Guide Book on “Unraveling Fake News and Countering Hate Speech in Nigeria.

‘’The spread of hate speech and fake news pose a lot of threat to the quality of public discourse, political system, sound policy outcomes and national cohesion,’’ Yau added.

He added that some of the crises bedevilling the country can be traced to fake news and hate speech.

He called on the stakeholders to look into the matter as hate speech and fake news which are  spread through the media, saying that  public trust in the media is negatively affected, thus the high level of public distrust and scepticism of the media.”

According to him, “creating a ‘Fact-Check’ platform that is accessible to the public is necessary.