BE CAREFUL ABOUT DAILY FALSE NEWS ON THE NET!

UNNERVING RISE OF FALSE NEWS

The upshot is that false news is a growing trend and is likely here to stay. Just as the social media, it will only evolve in more diverse ways. – The author

Our intertwined world is encountering a vastly changed narrative of news flow, reportage and cause-advocacy via media.

The change is linked to growing universal rage — the so-called “age of anger”, and a sense of audacity, which drives anti-establishment sentiments and protestations.

Yet two realities are incontrovertible: fake or false news, hate speech and post truth via social media are spiraling globally, as the mainstream media is battling a crisis of legitimacy.

But just as the social media accentuates mass communication, it has thrown up an unnerving flip side –false news and post truth- which makes social media an adverse game changer.

Those who contend that social media offer a level playing field, overlook the pitfalls.

The scariest part of false news is the absence of an undo button. Evidence exist that false news has for some nations, become a tool of statecraft.

Russia meddling with recent U.S. elections is a case in point. Globally, the social order is being changed.

Alternative or rogue governments are being elected, due to the impact of false news.

Also, false news is now abetting recrudescence of rightwing extremism in Europe. The global tsunami of disinformation is replete with hybrid threats fostered by hoaxes.

Yet, the most insidious generators of false news, is the lone perpetrator, sequestered by choice in a room or café with an iPhone or tablet and access to Wi-Fi, who feels the awesome power afforded by anonymity and driven by indignation or righteousness to redress perceived societal ills.

The desire to shape opinion by legerdemain and revenge are also compelling factors.

Indubitably, false news is now the electrified third rail in global politics, Nigerian politics included.

With its vast reach, false news retains huge capacity for destructive consequences. Worryingly, there is no agreed antidote.

Recently, the Czech Republic set up a specialized anti-fake news unit to combat Russian fake news inundation.

In Africa, the response has been slow, notwithstanding that within one month, the news of the demise of Gambia’s president-elect Adama Barrow and of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari were published and gained currency, until refuted.

Less perturbing but equally fabricated news included, Eritrea polygamy report; Tanzania’s president ban on miniskirts; and Nigerian lawmakers making 11 years the age of sexual consent?

All these are examples of the dreadful phenomena we confront daily. There is real and false news.

Until recently, false news was rare and benign, except for some non-injurious clichés; “bad news is good news” and “no news is good news”.

Not anymore. False news is bad news and therefore trouble.

While rhetoric remains the bedrock of political obfuscation, false news stretches rhetoric beyond the acceptable.

Moreover, false news is primarily fueled by politics and peaks during electoral periods. Hence, the 2016 U.S. elections added credence and impetus to false news.

Why the sudden groundswell of false news?

The social media is false news breeding ground. All that’s required is just a click of the “share” icon.

Besides the anonymity provided by social media, the convenience of instantly tweeting or retweeting a news item, without confirming the veracity, underpins the spread of false news, but not the reasons for fabricating untruth.

Interestingly, the attentive public has unwittingly become part of the problem.

The natural instinct to question the authenticity of a news report, has been dulled by the euphoria of being among the first to share a scoop, be it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or WhatsApp.

What is overlooked is false news potentials as a tripwire for mob action or restiveness and possible national security implications.

False news traits include sensational and captivating headlines; oftentimes without a direct quote from the subject of the story.

False news goes beyond stretching the truth, often in malicious and troubling ways.

Hence, false news is not just capable of upturning nations’ social balance, but capable of fostering and foisting violent extremism.

False news abets political exigencies, more so where State controlled broadcast media outlets and on air personalities resort to spewing of verbiage during unmodulated call-in programmes.

There exist an inextricable nexus between false news and hate speech. Both aim to hurt.

This explains why ahead of the 2019 elections, the Abuja-based Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) constituted the Democracy Stability and Media Accountability Project (DESMAP) Council.

The Council is “to address the administrative and legal gaps that exist in the extant body of laws and code of ethics on journalism and media practice, especially as they relate to the propagation of dangerous, false news and hate speeches.”

Nigeria is facing its share of false news, but despite the broad awareness of the negative impact of false news, the Federal Government is yet to contextualize fully the alarming challenges posed by false news and hate speech, and thus has not risen fully to the task.

By Oseloka Obaze & Chiagozie Udeh

“MADE IN NIGERIA GOODS”…WAS DINO MELAYE MOCKING OSHIOMOLE OR NIGERIAN WOMEN?

READ THE UNSERIOUS ESSENCE OF A NIGERIAN SENATOR CALLED DINO MELAYE

The Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Dino Melaye, mocked the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, while contributing to a motion seeking the need to patronise products made in Nigeria.

Melaye, who is from Kogi-West senatorial district, while contributing to the motion by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, which advocated the need to patronise products made in Nigeria, took a swipe at Oshiomhole, saying Nigerians should not emulate the governor whom he said opted not to “patronise ‘Made-in-Nigeria women’ but a foreign one”.

Melaye was referring to Iara, the wife of Oshiomhole, whom he married from Cape Verde in the Southern African region.

He, therefore, advised Nigerians not to only patronise goods made in Nigeria, but also made-in-Nigeria women.

He said, “I want to celebrate the ‘Made-in-Nigeria senator’ for bringing up this motion. In considering goods produced in Nigeria, we must look at the enabling factors that will necessitate the goods.

“It is beyond having one made in Nigeria attire and having over 70 designers’ attires in your wardrobe. We must reduce the allocation for made-in-Nigeria goods and services to the basics.

“What are those factors limiting the production of these goods? We must tackle them. We must also begin to look at our legislation, then we will begin to talk about made-in-Nigeria goods.

“We will also move in order to encourage made-in-Nigeria products and begin to talk about made-in-Nigeria women.

“Apologies to my uncle, the Governor of Edo State, we must as a people stop paying dowries in dollars and pounds. It is time for my colleagues here to become born again.”

ALUKO’S CONFESSION:IS ELECTORAL FRAUD IN EKITI NOT CORRUPTION?

Aluko’s confession on Ekiti poll

The ripples generated by the June 21, 2014, governorship election in Ekiti State seem to be widening. Former People’s Democratic Party,PDP Secretary in the state, Dr. Temitope Aluko, recently made startling revelations in Abuja on how federal might was allegedly used to subvert the poll’s credibility.

He claimed that the exercise that saw the return of Governor Ayodele Fayose was not an election but a “coup” against Ekiti people. A self-confessed party to what he described as electoral manipulation, Aluko who is Fayose’s friend of 40 years and former Chairman, Security and Intelligence Committee of his campaign organisation, expressed regret over his role in the whole affair.

Among other things, he alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan gave Fayose $37 million cash to prosecute the poll in which security agents, including soldiers, were allegedly deployed against the opposition, the All Progressive Congress (APC) leaders in the state. Aluko-PDP Apparently, the erstwhile PDP stalwart in Ekiti State fell out with Fayose when the latter reneged on his pre-election promise to make Aluko his chief of staff.

Until their once rosy political relationship went awry, Aluko was PDP’s chief agent who endorsed the election results. At the election petition tribunal, he testified on oath that the poll was free and fair. By his voluntary confession, Aluko has held himself out as a participant in an orchestrated electoral offence. The implication is that by his own admission, his testimonies at the election petition tribunal were odious lies calculated to mislead the judges.

In the eye of the law, Aluko is also culpable for perjury. Aluko’s conduct is a morbid reflection of the cesspool of corruption and fraud that characterise our electoral system. We therefore urge that the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari should be extended to those who commit electoral fraud against the people. Such individuals, irrespective of the political party they belong to, should be prosecuted.

We also restate our call on other security agencies to emulate the army’s example by investigating the involvement of their officers and men in the controversial Ekiti governorship election. Those who are found to have played ignoble roles by compromising their professional etquettes should be punished accordingly to serve as a deterrent to others. This is the only way to restore sanity to the nation’s electoral system. If Aluko’s mind-boggling revelations are ignored, it will be an affront on our democracy and a failure of the rule of law.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/alukos-confession-on-ekiti-poll/