By Rhoda Okoh
The Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris has charged the media to take advantage of global practice to shun fake news syndrome in the country.
He gave the charge at a courtesy visit paid by the Country Representative of UNESCO, Abdurrahman Diallo, on Tuesday, 19 December 2023 in Abuja.
Idris admonishes that sanitizing the media space is crucial to reducing the impact of fake news and calls for self-regulation to avoid misinterpreting government policies as media oppression.
With each fake news, online media loses credibility more.
Countries can domesticate regulating social media and it will be seen to be gagging the press.
He also Called for the promotion of community radio as part of the inclusive societies mandate of UNESCO.
That will bridge the information gap as citizens will have avenues for expression and feedback.
The minister while commending UNESCO for approving a Nigeria office as well as their commitment to curbing misinformation and disinformation calls on all to support the establishment of the newly approved Category 2 International Institute of Information and Media Literacy for effective communication.
Earlier, the Country Representative of UNESCO, Abdourrahmane Diallo congratulated Nigeria on being part of the Executive Board of UNESCO, stressing that this milestone is a further confirmation of Nigeria’s position among member states.
A statement by Suleiman Haruna, Deputy Director, Press Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation 20th December 2023 revealed the country representative also pledged to continuously collaborate with the ministry in the area of media and information literacy, media independence, and media inclusion.