UNESCO confab to boost war against fake news, misinformation – Lai Mohammed

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NIGERIA’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said the 2022 Global Media and Information Literacy (GMIL) Week of UNESCO, will give a boost to the federal government’s war against hate speech, fake news and misinformation.

The Minister stated this in Abuja on Friday while inaugurating the 25-member Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the event, which will take place in Abuja from October 24th to 31st.

Mohammed said that Nigeria was considered to host the confab because the country is known as a strong advocate of Media and Information Literacy (MIL).

READ: Media Matters for Democracy launches fact-checking tool ‘Facter’ for newsrooms

He said, “Hosting the 2022 GMIL will go a long way to address the growing trend of fake news, misinformation, and hate speech, thus enhancing the campaign we launched in 2018 against these practices.

“In 2013, Nigeria successfully hosted the First Global Forum for Partnership on MIL, tagged Abuja 2013. This Forum gave birth to the UNESCO MIL Alliance as well as other initiatives, as part of our collective desire to achieve Media and Information Literacy for all and by all.

“Nigeria’s contributions towards the birth and the growth of MIL, especially in the West African Sub-Region, played a large role in UNESCO’s decision to offer our country the right to host this event.”

The minister also urged the LOC members to use their wealth of experience to organise a successful event, adding that nothing less is expected from such a high-caliber committee.

“Since we agreed to host the 11th edition of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, we have been working with the UNESCO Secretariat, UNESCO Regional Office, Abuja and other stakeholders to host the world for a befitting and memorable event. A critical aspect of this preparation is the choice of the theme and the development of the Concept Note. Permit me to inform you that both have successfully been concluded.

“Accordingly, the theme of this year’s Global Media and Information Literacy, which has been duly approved by UNESCO, is: ‘Nurturing Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative.’ The theme highlights how Media and Information Literacy (MIL) helps with nurturing trust and countering mistrust.”

He also used the occasion to unveil the MIL Week Logo, saying the conference would witness participants from over 193 UNESCO member countries.

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