Fresh revelations have emerged on why the Nigerian Army is yet to
clear the remnant of Boko Haram terrorists from the Northeastern part of
the country.
A report by the Centre For Social Justice, Equity And Transparency,
CESJET, said fake news, foreign actors were major distractions to the
Army in clearing remnants of Boko Haram elements operating in the
northeast.
In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Isaac Ikpa,
CESJET tasked the media, citizens and all stakeholders to be patriotic
in identifying and exposing fake news targeted at derailing the war
against Nigeria’s enemies.
The report reads: “The menace of fake news in Nigeria is a time
bomb waiting to explode. This is on the heels that misinformation and
hate speech have threatened the peace, unity, security and the corporate
existence of Nigeria.
“The relevant authorities in Nigeria have strived to educate
the populace on the demerits of fake news and how its continued
patronage has aided the spread of terrorism in the country.
“The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency, in
carrying out one of its core mandate consequently commissioned a special
report to look at the menace of Fake News in Nigeria in an attempt to
bring to the fore the various factors responsible for the spread of Fake
news in Nigeria, as well as measures the relevant authorities needs to
put in place to curtail the spread of fake news in the country.
“The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency x-rayed
the origin of fake news in Nigeria and took a systematic approach in
highlighting the impact on the Nigerian polity. It also looked at the
various mediums through which fake news is propagated. The focus of the
report was 2015 to 2019 to cover the years that fake news gained
prominence in Nigeria. The choice of 2015-2019 was also informed by the
numerous efforts of the relevant agencies in Nigeria towards arresting
the menace of fake news in the polity.
“Terrorism is now a major feature of the international
political system in the 21st century. Terrorism in the 21st century has
gone beyond its traditional conception both in the motivations,
objectives, tactics, techniques and territorial aspiration of its
actors. Traditional terrorism uses kidnappings, suicide bombings (human
and vehicle borne), hostage-taking, improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
and armed assaults to achieve mostly political objectives. Terrorism in
its present incarnation has expanded from the physical (geographical
regions) into the virtual (cyberspace) and its techniques now include
the use of technology-driven devices such as unmanned aerial vehicles,
Twitter, Blogs Youtube and Facebook. Terrorists’ objectives have gone
beyond such abstract concepts as instilling fear, creating awareness for
a particular cause and forcing governments to change specific policies,
to tangible and disruptive aims like the creation of viable political,
administrative, religious and territorial units.
“Terrorism has been around since the beginning of recorded
history. What have changed are the dissident groups’ capability of
inflicting harm on an ever-larger number of people, their ability to
organize through the Internet, and, thanks to the media, a heightened
concern, bordering on paranoia, among the populace about their own
security. Domestically, nations, are deeply concerned about the
radicalization of the youth along the entire ideological spectrum.
Increased migration from the war-torn areas and failed states is not
only putting strains on the nations’ resources but is also fomenting
xenophobic reactions among native populations.
“There are also fears of terrorist cells among immigrant
minorities, isolated in their enclaves. To this volatile mix, we must
add the internecine warfare with deep historical roots in the Middle
East, Africa, and Asia. Thus, fake news is an enhancer of terrorism and
terrorist activities around the world.
“Fake news and its Terrorism Influences: Media and terror are
inextricably linked. The media is expected to report and analyse terror
as a matter of international priority. Yet striking the right balance
between informing the public without unnecessarily stoking fear or
giving disproportionate publicity and attention to a terrorist
organisation is a complex task. To make matters even more complicated,
since the emergence of new media, social media in particular,
‘traditional’ media has had to adapt to and compete in an accelerated
news cycle of reporting, commentary and analysis.
“Digital platforms such as Blogs, Twitter and Facebook have
changed the flow of information in a way that enables unverified
user-generated content (UGC) to appear alongside media outlets’
fact-checked content. Unlike traditional media, UGC isn’t subject to
strict editorial, ethical or practical guidelines and the speed and
scale at which this information is created and disseminated is hard to
contain. This presents challenges to news reporting on terror, such as
the spread of misinformation and ‘fake news’.
“There has been an increasing focus on violent activities in
social media and what would traditionally be categorized as criminality
has increasingly branded as ‘terrorism’ as event unfolds and before all
of the facts can be ascertained and a judgment made upon factual
evidence. The use of social media and other media sources contributes in
part to the premature categorisation of these events and creating
unnecessary hype.
“The use of language, labeling coupled with unsubstantiated or
grossly inaccurate facts before an event has been analyzed, can result
in misinformation and heighten the public fear unnecessarily.
“The difficulty is thus separating the fake news about
terrorism, the over-exaggerations and untruths from what unfolds. In
doing so this creates confusion, fear and unnecessarily intensifies
events at a time when the focus should be primarily on dealing with an
incident and helping the victims, whether injured or deceased and those
directly affected by the event. A further problem arises which is event
fatigue: individuals becoming desensitised to images of pain and
suffering and the acceptance of a new norm.
“The question then becomes what can we do to ensure the
accurate flow of information and the correct categorisation of events.
The other interesting question is that terrorist groups or cells
manipulate criminals and mentally ill persons to carry out criminal
attacks to ensure that they take credit for these events.
“Communicating accurate information and minimising the spread
of rumours and conspiracy theories is vital to supporting the public
during a time of crisis. News media outlets and social media platforms
should play complementary roles in this process: news media must try to
ensure that correct information is disseminated, and social media
platforms should be more vigilant in preventing bots and propagandists
from flooding online platforms with misinformation.
The role of
independent, nuanced and responsible journalism has never been more
important—and yet there’s a growing distrust of mainstream media’s
reporting on terror. This stems from Trumpian rhetoric and accusations
of fake news, as well as from public perceptions of media bias when
reporting on attacks.
It is important for our security experts to remain vigilant.
The reduction of misinformation and the accurate use of terrorist
terminology relating to events, foiled plots and threats will not
detract from the overall objective of public protection but rather will
strengthen and focus this goal. Clear information and a common focus on
ensuring accurate information is disseminated can be complemented by the
accurate and honest acknowledgment of the real threat and the due
recognition of the excellent job which the security industry has done to
date to abate attacks and minimise the potential for any future
events.”
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