Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the federal government will not rest until social media platforms are regulated.
The minister, in an interview with NAN in Washington, on Wednesday, said the dangers of fake news on social media must be taken seriously.
Mohammed explained that the online media report that he “sneaked out of Nigeria to meet with Twitter executives’’ in the US is fake.
The minister said he came to the US to meet with international media organisations and think-tanks on the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, and efforts made so far in tackling insurgency, banditry, and all forms of criminality.
Lai Mohammed, who has so far engaged with the BBC, Bloomberg, and Politico during his visit to Washington DC, said he hasn’t met with Twitter.
He asked;
Can a minister sneak out of Nigeria without people knowing? When you say I sneaked out of Nigeria, are you saying I went to board at a terminal where nobody is, or I travelled to the Republic of Benin to fly out of the country?.
He stressed;
I was at an international airport, where I presented myself openly and I was checked in at the counter like every other traveller of the airline. I boarded and passed through the checks by the immigration service and customs. How can you come and say I sneaked out of the country? You and I have been here, have I met with any Twitter official?
When you talk about fake news and its dangers, we need to take it seriously, and I am happy that the entire world is now seeing what we saw more than two years ago. I can assure you that we will not rest until we regulate the social media. Otherwise, nobody will survive it.
Recall that on June 4, Federal Government suspended Twitter’s operations indefinitely, after accusing the micro-blogging site of “undermining Nigeria’s existence.”
The suspension was announced few days after Twitter deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s official account.
The tweet had referenced the Nigerian civil war as the President threatened to treat Nigerians “misbehaving” in “the language they understand”.
Read Also: Twitter Deletes Buhari’s ‘Civil War’ Tweet Threatening Arsonists In South East
Recently, the federal government said it is in talks with the microblogging platform, adding that the suspension will be lifted soon.
