Nigeria’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, announced on Friday that the country has requested Google and Meta to regulate the dissemination of false information on their platforms prior to the upcoming presidential election this month.
On February 25th, the citizens of Nigeria will cast their votes to elect a new president, with three leading candidates pledging to address the issues of increasing cost of living, insecurity, and an economy with slow growth.
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Minister Mohammed stated that he held a meeting with representatives from Meta and Google in Abuja on Friday and asked them to prioritize official posts on their platforms and to label election results from unofficial sources as unverified.
In addition, he requested that the two companies collaborate with security services to remove posts that could lead to violence.
As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is investigating methods to control the use of social media. The country has a significant number of internet users, and platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok are widely used.
Minister Mohammed’s request follows his request to Google last year to restrict the utilization of YouTube channels and live streams by separatist and Islamist militant organizations in Nigeria.
According to Mohammed, “The implementation of these actions will significantly curb the spread of fake news and disinformation on social media prior to, during, and after the elections.”
