By Kenneth Affor
Representatives from Facebook, Google and Premium Times on Monday at the Social Media Week Lagos spoke of how their companies identify and stop the spread of fake news within the digital space.
Fake news is falsified content in the digital space.
According to Adaora Ikenze, Head of Public Policy Facebook Nigeria “when it comes to stories that are detrimental to the people, we don’t publish those stories”.
She said specific deliberate investigations are conducted on stories to check if they are illicit or not, adding that “Nigerians is one of the countries that has the lowest rate of people reporting if a particular story is fake or not”.
Nicholas Ibekwe, Head, Investigations Premium Times reveals that his organization does a lot of fact-checking which involves multiple organizations in determining fake news.
Google and Youtube according to Taiwo Kola Ogunlade flag down information that is not factual within 24 hours.
Considering the high rate of politicians using fake news as a tool for propaganda against their political opponents during electioneering, participants were urged to ensure they pass on the right information.
