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marketrent OP t1_j7b7gvs wrote

Excerpt from the linked Reuters content^1 by Felix Onuah:

>ABUJA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria has asked Google and Meta to control the spread of fake news on their platforms ahead of a presidential election this month, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said on Friday.

>Nigerians go to the polls on Feb. 25 to elect a new president, with three frontrunners promising to deal with the rising cost of living, insecurity and a slow-growing economy.

>Mohammed said he met with Meta and Google representatives in Abuja on Friday and requested that they make posts from official channels visible on their platforms, and flag as unverified election results originating from unofficial sources.

>He also asked the two companies to work with the security services to take down posts capable of inciting violence.

>Mohammed's request comes after he asked Google last year to block the use of YouTube channels and livestreams by secessionist and Islamist militant groups in the country.

^1 Nigeria asks social media giants to curb fake news ahead of election, F. Onuah, 3 Feb. 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-asks-social-media-giants-curb-fake-news-ahead-election-2023-02-03/

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WartimeHotTot t1_j7c233j wrote

{Boromir meme} One does not simply ask social media to not spread fake news…

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powbo t1_j7c3ucz wrote

They will most certainly curb anything not in their favor

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Rso1wA t1_j7c4j92 wrote

I don’t know, but those are awesome clouds

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freecake t1_j7cfvai wrote

Eerily similar to another large first world nation that had tech giants control the flow of information. Interesting

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teddytwelvetoes t1_j7cgt8g wrote

lol, the US happily let Donald fucking Trump of all people become the literal president we're not going to do shit for Nigeria

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charavaka t1_j7cxq46 wrote

Replying to marketrent (#1,728,695)

Pretty much the same story in India. Leave alone fringe elements, things supporting mainstream opposition or questioning the dear leader (modi) or his favourite industrialist (adani) get called fake news and banned or attacked. Some of you might have heard of the bbc documentary on modi's genocidal politics and the Hindenburg report on adani's corruption which came out recently. Both are western propaganda to bring down resurgent india, according to the government. BBC documentary is banned and news agencies are busy equating adani with india and calling for action against Indian journalists and opposition who have been crying hoarse against adani's crony capitalism long before Hindenburg report. Government agencies including market regulators are threatening short sellers without so much as pretending to investigate the Hindenburg accusations, as adani stock tumbles.

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cpatanisha t1_j7d1j7d wrote

Of course I bet the party in power wants to dictate what they consider "fake."

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CrowBot99 t1_j7do40l wrote

Can they afford the tech giants, though?

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chubba5000 t1_j7e9ksi wrote

To which Google responded “Well, this is awkward, we outsource our content moderation to Nigerians….”

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Nanyea t1_j7edyjs wrote

Replying to marketrent (#1,728,695)

Some countries have an electoral discretionary period that prohibits posts/news close to an election... We could really use that maybe a much bigger window like 2 weeks...

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BurningPenguin t1_j7f5a5v wrote

But how are they supposed to get more engagement, if they take out the trash? /s

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small-iq t1_j7fai98 wrote

And, of course, those in power will be the ones to determine what is fake. Anything that goes against their narrative or makes them look bad is fake news.

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TetsuoTechnology t1_j7gu857 wrote

Hmm, this sounds like such a familiar and important problem and request, hmm… maybe there needs to be accountability and regulation?

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