The Special Adviser to President
Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has said those who carry
fake news about the President want to cause disenchantment and expose him to ridicule
and hatred.
According to him, there are many
reasons why people will create and disseminate fake news, but top on his list
is mischief.
Adesina stated this Monday night
while appearing on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ anchored by Seun Okinbaloye.
“There are many reasons; I can’t
speak for those who are behind this development but I can hazard guesses why
they do it. One will be pure mischief – to just cause disenchantment in the
country,” he said.
His comments come amid growing
concerns by the government about fake news, hate speech, and what it said is
the misuse of the social media to create divisions and threaten the unity of
the nation.
On Sunday, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, put out a statement rubbishing viral
reports that the President would travel to the United States today to condole
with President Trump in connection with the destruction carried out by
Hurricane Harvey.
Adesina who read the reports and
the comments that followed has little doubt about the intention behind the fake
news.
“If you see the last line of that
story, they said that the trip may not be unconnected to the President’s
health. Can you just imagine that? I took time to read some of the reactions
that followed that fake news and you could see people say all sorts of
rubbish,” he said.
“That was their intention; so
that they can expose the President to odium if possible. So, one reason is
mischief; to cause odium, to cause disenchantment.
“Another reason could also be to
de-market somebody. You want to de-market somebody and play up another person.
Then, of course, another one is they want traffic to their website.”
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