Dean Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, Bayero University Kano (BUK), Kano State, Professor Umar A. Pate, has raised an alarm over an upsurge of fake news and hate speech on both traditional and social media in the country.
According to him, fake news and hate speech have aggravated the already tensed situation in the country, observing that though it is a global phenomenon, but many use it as bullets to kill or cause havoc in the lives of other fellow human beings.
Prof Pate who was speaking at a One Day Capacity Building Workshop organised for Media Practitioners in Yola by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Adamawa state council and held at the Press Center today, lamented that Nigeria has been overstretched by internal threats and making the country to become more tense day by day.
He said that many people are championing civil war based on the negative feelings they have been expressing most especially on social media either because they don't know or because of mischief, saying many engage in the exchange of violent, harsh and open abuses because of each other's ethnicity, religion, social and cultural backgrounds.
He added that people manufacture or fabricate information and disseminate it deliberately to deceive, mislead, misinform, misdirect the general public or with the intention to ridicule or denigrate an individual or group of individuals' reputation or image because of their religion or ethnicity.
The University Don attributed fake news and hate speech to easy access to social media platforms, competitive politics, deepening poverty, ethno religious supremacy, low capacity of traditional media, excessive commercialisation, authoritative lies and government excess control, lamenting that media outfits such as radio and television are not equipped with more than technology for effective performance and reliability.
Prof Umar A. Pate, pointed out that one can easily identify fake news on social media including facebook, whatsApp, twitter, youtube, messenger among others through fact checking, verification, checking from multiple sources, stating many people now rely on social for information.
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