CrossCheck Nigeria launches platform to combat fake news

As part of measures to combat fake news and
misinformation in Nigeria, First Draft News^[1] in collaboration
with the International Centre for Investigative
Reporting^[2] (ICIR) has launched
a website platform called ‘CrossCheck
Nigeria^[3]’ to tackle the
menace.

The website is aimed at verifying news^[4], pictures and videos
that circulate on all social media platforms in order to
authenticate or debunk claims emanating from such.

The Managing Director of FirstDraftNews, Jenni Sargent,
explained that the website uses research-based methods to fight
misinformation and disinformation emanating from the social
web.

Speaking during a panel of discussion at the launch of the
platform on Wednesday in Lagos, media executives decried the
worrisome increase of fake news in Nigeria, saying journalists must
uphold the core ethics of reporting the truth at all cost and
times.

A member of the Editorial Board of the Guardian newspaper,
Martins Oloja, said fake news is ‘deliberate propaganda aimed at
destroying the truth’.

While attributing the evolution of technology and social media
as major factors for the growth of fake news, Oloja called on
journalists to be more vigilant and dig deeper to maintain the role
of gatekeeping for the society.

“The moment customers notice you are no longer credible, you are
finished in journalism. The foundation is truth and accuracy and if
you don’t have them in journalism, you will lose business,” he
said.

Also speaking, the Publisher of The Niche newspaper, Ikechukwu
Amaechi, advised journalists and media publishers to maintain their
credibility at all cost, saying once your medium is no longer
credible, the newspaper dies naturally.

“Daily Times was once the fastest selling newspapers before. But
when it begin to publish more of propaganda as a result of
government influence, it collapsed,” Amaechi noted.

ICIR Executive Director, Dayo Aiyetan, said Nigerians can freely
log into the website^[5], post pictures, videos
and any other information they want CrossCheck
Nigeria^[6] to verify to curb
the circulation of fake news in the country.

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