By Sunday Ani
Following the spate of fake news and online bullying that characterised the 2023 general elections, a conglomerate of civil society groups under the aegis of Safeguarding Online Civic Space (SOCS), has called for the federal government’s support to combat the ugly trend.
The group also sought the collaboration and partnership of the media, particularly, to combat voter misinformation and disinformation, so as to enhance inclusive voter and civic education.
Chairman of the group, Dr. Funmi Akinyele, who stated this at a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, noted that misinformation, disinformation and fake news could be effectively combated through fact checking.
She lamented that the integrity of the 2023 general elections was significantly tested in the online space by fake news, which took different shapes as millions of Nigerians, particularly eligible voters, got information that shaped their opinions from social media.
She said: “Considering the ripples left behind by this menace of fake news during the last elections, the overarching goal of this project is to protect online civic space by combating voter misinformation and disinformation while improving access to accurate civic information inclusively. Unfortunately, some individuals, either by omission or commission, have distorted information, leading to misinformation, disinformation, and malformation.
“The misuse and repression of both offline and digital civic spaces, no doubt, have contributed to the perceptions, mostly negative, of members of the international community about Nigeria. To strengthen the integrity of the electoral process, especially with the introduction of digital instruments like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and IRev, the digital civic space must be protected.
“We once more appeal to everyone to work with us as we continue to travel throughout the nation’s six geopolitical zones in our effort to protect the digital civic space by battling misinformation, disinformation, and online harassment and bullying.”
Also, the Lead, Research Centre for Development Action, Austin Aigbe explained that prior to the elections, 108 fact checkers were trained to burst fake news, which could have affected the integrity of the last elections.
He urged the government agencies to always release information as and when due to check misinformation, disinformation and misinformation.
“Each time the government fails to put out information as quickly as possible, it creates rooms for disinformation peddlers to push out their own narratives and it takes more work to sieve out the right information. The media must be conscious of the right information as a matter of urgency. If you cannot independently verify a story, don’t share it,” he cautioned.
He noted that fact checking is not just about bursting fake news but also providing the right information. He stated that the 108 persons already trained in fact check do not only do that online, as there are times when physical fact check equally becomes necessary and unavoidable.
On her part, Anita Graham of the Learners’ Corner said there was a noticeable rise of interest on the part of the youths to participate in the 2023 electoral process, even as she advised that the youths should not be discouraged by the outcome of the election but to continue to participate with right information. “The youths are encouraged to continue to take part in the electoral process irrespective of what happened in the last election. They should continue to be tolerant in the civic space. They should not give up but continue to be more interested in the political process with right information,” she noted.