Twitter Ban: Expect A Harvest Of Misinformation, Says Prof. Olawuyi, SAN

The Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic, Research, Innovation
and Strategic Partnerships (ARISP), of Afe Babalola University, Ado
Ekiti (ABUAD), Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN has emphasized
the importance of keeping all channels of engagement and
information with the citizenry open in order for the government to
effectively tackle competitive misinformation and the spread of
fake news.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is also co-chairman of the
Legal Education Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),
stated this while delivering the opening remarks at the Green
Institute’s World Environment Day conference.

In his remarks, Olawuyi noted “One of the most potent threats to
peace and sustainable development in a country is the lack of
easily accessible information on government’s activities and
programs. In a quest to actively engage with citizens, government
leaders across the world, including Nigeria, have successfully
deployed the use of online social networks (OSNs) such as Twitter
to provide authentic and readily available information that counter
fake news.

Countries like Canada and the United States even have social
media ‘war rooms’ backed with significant budgets, where social
media experts actively counter the diffusion of competitive
misinformation and fake news about government programs. So, banning
Twitter is like inflicting self-harm at a time of great global
uncertainty.”

While discussing the economic and national security implications
of the Twitter ban, Olawuyi noted that “when government agencies
with first-hand information are no longer available on social
media, expect a bumper harvest and spread of spurious and
unverified information by unscrupulous elements at home and abroad.
Such nefarious information can spread very quickly in seconds
resulting in cascading national security and economic impacts
before you can respond offline.”

While discussing the need for a more strategic response to the
legitimate concerns raised by the Federal Government, Olawuyi
called for the development of a national policy on social media and
new technologies, built on transparency, accountability,
participatory development, and other human rights safeguards, in
order to achieve win-win outcomes in the use of social media in
Nigeria.

He concluded that the government should work with reputable
research agencies and institutes in Nigeria to spearhead the
development of clear, coherent, and sustainable national policies
on new technologies and social media in Nigeria.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic, Research, Innovation
and Strategic Partnerships (ARISP), of Afe Babalola University, Ado
Ekiti (ABUAD), Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN has emphasized
the importance of keeping all channels of engagement and
information with the citizenry open in order for the government to
effectively tackle competitive misinformation and the spread of
fake news.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is also co-chairman of the
Legal Education Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),
stated this while delivering the opening remarks at the Green
Institute’s World Environment Day conference.

In his remarks, Olawuyi noted “One of the most potent threats to
peace and sustainable development in a country is the lack of
easily accessible information on government’s activities and
programs. In a quest to actively engage with citizens, government
leaders across the world, including Nigeria, have successfully
deployed the use of online social networks (OSNs) such as Twitter
to provide authentic and readily available information that counter
fake news.

Countries like Canada and the United States even have social
media ‘war rooms’ backed with significant budgets, where social
media experts actively counter the diffusion of competitive
misinformation and fake news about government programs. So, banning
Twitter is like inflicting self-harm at a time of great global
uncertainty.”

While discussing the economic and national security implications
of the Twitter ban, Olawuyi noted that “when government agencies
with first-hand information are no longer available on social
media, expect a bumper harvest and spread of spurious and
unverified information by unscrupulous elements at home and abroad.
Such nefarious information can spread very quickly in seconds
resulting in cascading national security and economic impacts
before you can respond offline.”

While discussing the need for a more strategic response to the
legitimate concerns raised by the Federal Government, Olawuyi
called for the development of a national policy on social media and
new technologies, built on transparency, accountability,
participatory development, and other human rights safeguards, in
order to achieve win-win outcomes in the use of social media in
Nigeria.

He concluded that the government should work with reputable
research agencies and institutes in Nigeria to spearhead the
development of clear, coherent, and sustainable national policies
on new technologies and social media in Nigeria.