2019: Nigerian politicians comb Europe for fake news experts
-In spite of the global movement against the spread of misinformation commonly referred to as FAKE NEWS, some Nigerian politicians are currently scouting the nooks and crannies of Europe in search of fake news experts to be deployed in the build-up to the general election in the country in 2019.
A very competent source who has been approached by a foreign agent of some of the politicians told Alternativeafrica.com exclusively that they have had three meetings in High Barnet area of North London and the meetings were held in three different locations in the area mostly in the wee hours of the day.
The preliminary discussions according to the source were centred on identifying competent Nigerian bloggers or online News platforms operating in any part of United Kingdom or Europe with emphasis on those outside London and other capital cities with preference for Eastern European countries.
The first of the criteria of the blogger or news platform according to our source is that it must be less famous so that the people behind it would be difficult to trace should the security agents go after them. Secondly, such platform must not be registered or the operator known to government of the country of operations and lastly the choice platform must be a one man show for effective operations.
“My profile of the person they are looking for is a competent Nigerian with sophisticated IT knowledge and who is an illegal resident. You know these type of people have no known address and most often operate under the radar ” the source told Alternativeafrica.com
The source further said that should they fail to find a person with all the identified attributes, the agents also discussed setting up a new platform purposely for that mission but must be under the guidance of a Nigerian. The materials to be distributed-stories, analysis, opinions, pictures and videos would be handled by the agents and would only be done through Whatsapp for effective dissemination
The source shared with Alternativeafrica.com some fake materials currently circulating in UK purportedly suggesting that the current Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari is a cloned person and that the real Buhari was long dead.
The material was also accompanied by another fake fake BBC news interview with Aisha Buhari, the wife of Nigerian President alluding to the same fact that the person ruling Nigeria was not his real husband
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had recently began a series of documentaries to eduate Nigerian and other African audiences on how to identify fake news and reasons why Nigerians usually fall prey to fake news which is gaining grounds in African media circles
The major reason according to BBC investigation is ”not falling behind on the news” and being informed, they easily believe fake news.
The research specifically ought to understand how fake news is spreading within encrypted chat apps in India, Kenya and Nigeria.
”In Kenya and Nigeria, people are consuming mainstream media sources and known sources of fake news in equal amounts, even though the public’s desire to know the original source of messages is far greater than in India.
”In the African markets, people are very concerned about not falling behind on the news. Being seen as in the know has great social ‘cachet’. These factors all allow fake stories to slip through the cracks in private networks, even if users have the best intentions of verifying the truth,” the report noted.
The study was divided into four components: the Facebook usage; generational difference, Images over words and Whatsapp usage.
Whatsapp Usage
In Nigeria, it said fake news stories relating to terrorism and the army are widely shared in Whatsapp conversation while in Kenya, fake news stories ”largely reflect national anxieties and aspirations, with scams related to money and technology getting shared in Whatsapp conversations”.
Facebook Usage
The research states that in Nigeria and Kenya, Facebook users consume fake and legitimate news sources equally and are not necessarily concerned about which is which.
In India, the research shows that once again the case is different, with polarised groups of people on Facebook either engaging with legitimate news sources or recognised fake news sources, rarely both.
”Our research also showed that those who are most interested in the known sources of fake news are also more interested in politics and political parties,” the BBC said.
”‘Images Over Words’
The research suggests that a significant amount of fake stories being shared are not written articles, but images and memes.
The research explains in depth how the nature of social media platforms, combined with the challenge people face in coping with the amount of information online, leads to the spread of fake news being carried through visual media.
It said the report, comes as Facebook, Google and Twitter are set to talk about the impact of fake news on their platforms on Monday, at a conference held in Delhi, India
Project Thrust
The head, audience research, BBC World Service, Santanu Chakrabarti explained the structure and basis of the report
”This report combines in-depth qualitative and ethnographic techniques with digital network analysis and Big Data techniques to explore the fake news phenomenon in India, Kenya, and Nigeria from multiple angles.
”The project is the first conducted in the three countries and focuses on the question of why ordinary people share the fake news. At the heart of this research is the question of why ordinary people are sharing fake news, even while they claim to be worried about the way fake stories spread,” he said.
”This project is one of the first in these countries to properly understand fake news as a technologically driven social phenomenon.
”I hope these findings will add nuance and depth to the conversation around fake news, and that researchers, analysts, and journalists will use the findings as a spur for further investigation.”
Similarily, the Director, BBC World Service Group, Jamie Angus, said the initiative is a step in ”BBC’s commitment to tackling the spread of disinformation”.
“Whilst most discussion in the media has focused on ‘fake news’ in the West, this piece of research gives strong evidence that a serious set of problems are emerging in the rest of the world where the idea of nation-building is trumping the truth when it comes to sharing stories on social media,” Mr Angus said.
”The BBC’s Beyond Fake News initiative marks a decisive step in our commitment to tackling the spread of disinformation, and this research provides invaluable insights to aid this work,” he added.
Unfortunately, the latest materials being circulated in Europe is a faked BBC news . alternativeafrica
