Fake News And Mis-information: The Need To Inculcate Responsibility~Prince Eze Ugochukwu.
Gradually it has become very difficult to check the facts behind so many stories. The speed of information dissemination have made sources of news very difficult to ascertain.
Both the government and the people themselves must be concerned. Everybody can be a victim. Fake News come in different forms, articles, images, videos etc, all based on fabricated narratives. They are completely false information created and spread to confuse and misinform the public.
We must accept the fact, that fake news have caused serious damage to many individuals, institutions and their reputations. The victims are left destroyed and messed up forever, with shattered and tattered sense of self-worth.
Increasingly the hard earned reputation of individuals, including institutional reputations of government and her agencies have come under attack. Confusion is daily sowed. Facts has been obscured. Honest assessment of government policies and programs are being impeded making it difficult for the governed to distinguish between facts and fiction.
Strategic partners, stakeholders, development agencies and potential investors are systematically chased away by purveyors of fake news. Jobs are lost, funding and financing opportunities disappear before our very eyes.
Like the covid19 pandemic raging like wildfire and taking lives, fake news is equally an epidemic. The epidemic of misinformation is also destroying lives and institutions of governance.
An Agent Provocateur, a deliberate inciting agent, will sit down and create news that changes the views of a significant chunk of the population towards hate, violence and explosion of revolt against government and its agencies and appointees, knowing fully well that government cannot work and will fall into mockery by losing the trust of the governed.
Democracy requires trust between the government and the governed. As citizens and stakeholders, we cannot allow manipulators to win. False informations meant to deceive and mislead audiences should not be encouraged.
In todays digital world, the speed that information is disseminated and shared makes fake news and misinformation one of the key impediments in managing the reputation and integrity of government. Fake news and false rumours reach more people, and penetrate deeper into the populace than accurate stories. Social media amplifies false information and elicit strong emotions against government.
It is in the interest of government to battle to protect its reputation and integrity.
Government and her officials must realise that it takes only one person to ignite crisis. So government must pay attention and remain vigilant before things get out of hand. The management of the reputation of government is so crucial because it is the most important asset of government for the defence and preservation and marketing of its programs and policies.
Prince Eze Ugochukwu wrote from Owerri. Imo State.
