By Fortune Eromosele, ABUJA
Towards the February 25 and March 11 general elections, the Food Basket Foundation International, FBFI, on Wednesday called for a joint effort from concerned stakeholders in fighting what it called ‘menace’ of misinformation and disinformation
Chairlady, Safeguarding Online Civic Space Group, Funmi Akinyele, made the call in Abuja, at a Media/CSO interface on overarching goal of the project to protect online civic space by combating voter misinformation and disinformation while improving access to accurate civic information inclusively.
The Interface, was organised by the Safeguarding Online Civic Space, SOCS, and was funded by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, through the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement Project.
Akinyele said that the group would rely on the support of all stakeholders and friends of Nigeria to overcome the identified challenges, as the country continues to prepare for the general elections.
According to her, “All the critical stakeholders across government, telecommunications, civil society and the general public, who have been United by an overarching interest in protecting the online civic space must rise and fight the menace of misinformation and the threats for proper enlightenment and education.
“It is important to verify information before sharing. The Group believes that the antidote to fake news is greater openness and transparency.”
She appealed to the media to support the effort of the group to improve inclusive voter and civic education and generate evidence regarding the openness and integrity of the digital space while tracking the political, economic environment by giving the project enough audience.