Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has cautioned against the spread of fake news, saying it may cause World War III.
Mohammed spoke yesterday when he appeared before the house of representatives committee on information, national orientation, ethics and values to defend his ministry’s 2022 budget.
The minister said the manner in which information is disseminated today has drastically changed.
He said the means of receiving information 30 years ago was through television and radio sets, adding that people now prefer to patronise social media where fake news is easily spread.
“The people today, they don’t read newspapers, they don’t watch television — it’s social media. And it is most expensive; the most unseen enemy, they are there every moment,” he said.
“With fake news today and misinformation — I have always said here that the next world war will be caused by fake news.
“You can see even the US that use to pride itself on the freedom of the press is now questioning the role of the social media.”