FG To Spend N138m On Fighting Fake News, Printing Calendars
The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, has allocated N138,066,187 in the 2024 budget for various activities, including combating fake news, printing calendars, and engaging with foreign and social media.
This is contained in the details of the 2024 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.
The budget breakdown shows that N24.5m has been allocated for a “special enlightenment campaign on government’s programmes and policies, testimonial series to gauge the impact of government policies on the citizenry.
“Advocacy against fake news, hate speech, farmers-herders clashes, banditry, rape, etc.”
The government also plans to spend N40m to produce calendars; N30m for external publicity and engagement with foreign media; N20.7m for media interactions by ministers, influencers, and analysts on print and social media.
Additionally, N21.7m has been earmarked for the development of social media platforms and networking with other platforms.
The budget proposal was submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly last week.
The fight against fake news was initiated by a former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Muhammed, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in 2021, stated that Nigeria had graduated from ordinary fake news to “deep” fake news, which according to him, was being used to wage war against the government and its officials.
He had also said that at the beginning, purveyors of deep fake news were largely unknown online publications, adding that it was, however, unfortunate that otherwise reputable publications and some mainstream media had joined the bandwagon while adding that citizens found guilty would be sanctioned.
