Social Media As A Tool Used For The Spread Of False News, By Bulus Chongsu John

Social media is an interactive platform that gives users the opportunity to share experience, opinions, ideas, thoughts and to connect as well as engage with others on issues and development.

While fake news are stories with no verifable source or quotes.They are stories that are false containing malicious content and fabricated to mislead audience or rather for economic purposes.

However, fake news is not a new occurrence but it has become more problematic with the increase in technology. In our society today,fake news has gained more audience more than real news online because it is in human nature to want to hear news that is unusual.

Fake news has given online journalism practice difficulties as people find it hard to differentiate between fake and genuine news stories.

Although not all fake news are deliberate example is misinformation and disformation. Misinformation is the spread of information without the intent of misleading audience while disi formation is the intentional spread of false information in order to mislead audience or for economic purposes.

Let me give example with the issue of COVID-19. COVID-19 pandemic stuck the world in 2020 when people were instructed to stay in doors for their safety that was the time social media began to take fake news to the doorpost of everyone. It came to the time that many people loss their lives due to the fake news from the media that everyone should take salt as COVID-19 remedy.

If I will give my own suggestion about this online thing is that citizen journalism should be banned because out of 100% about 90% of fake news is from the citizen journalist who are not trained in the journalism profession.they post contents with no or less gatekeeping which end up causing tension in times of emergencies and conflicts.

Bulus Chongsu John writes from HNDII Mass Communication Department Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi and can be reached via johnbuluschongsu@gmail.com