Nigerian journalists’ response to fake news and government control measures

Abstract

The prevalence of fake news in the Nigerian media space has prompted the adoption of legal and legislative advocacy and, sometimes, outright suspension of the operations of media organisations in the country, such as was done to Twitter in July 2021, all to curb the menace. This development has not been favourably received by journalists, who are supposed to set the agenda for any action that is neither necessary nor permanent in the system.  To ascertain the disposition or response of journalists to the spread of fake news and control measures being undertaken by the government, the researcher selected some journalists who live and work in Abuja and are captured under the Federal Capital City’s WhatsApp platform, with no fewer than 350 members, to elicit their response via Google form.  Although the majority of them express deep concern over the atrocity of fake news and support an effort to regulate the media further, they, however, want such action to be undertaken by an independent body or leave it to the court to determine fake news and sanction offenders to avoid suppression of press freedom. From the findings, it is safe to conclude that Nigerian journalists do not consider fake news a severe national challenge that warrants further government draconian regulation that can stifle the free press and shrink the country’s media space. Therefore, the researcher recommends that the Nigerian Government deploy appropriate technology to detect and remove fake news within a reasonable timeframe before it escalates to a harmful dimension. The government and journalist unions should engage more in public enlightenment against phoney news while the government should put a national policy on social malaise.