Vanguard news reported that Catholic clerics have lamented the rising tide of falsehood and misinformation in Nigeria, saying it is one of the major challenges facing the country.
The clerics spoke at a media interactive session to mark the 2023 World Communication Day, with the theme, “Speaking with the heart: The truth in love.”
The Vicar-General of Metropolitan See of Lagos Archdiocese, Monsignor John Aniagwu, said Nigeria is bleeding and suffering as a result of falsehood and misinformation.
“Some people have chosen to spread falsehood and misinformation rather than the truth,” he said.
“This is one of the major challenges facing our country today. It is tearing us apart.”
Aniagwu said the Catholic Church is committed to the truth and that it will continue to speak out against falsehood and misinformation.
“We will not be cowed by those who want to spread lies and deceit,” he said.
“We will continue to speak the truth, even if it is not popular.”
Another cleric, Rev. Fr. Patrick Alumuku, said the Catholic Church is calling on all Nigerians to be responsible in their use of social media.
“We should be careful of what we share on social media,” he said.
“We should not share anything that we are not sure is true. We should also be careful of the kind of comments we make on social media.”
Alumuku said the Catholic Church is also calling on the government to do more to regulate social media.
“The government needs to do more to regulate social media,” he said.
“They need to put in place measures to ensure that falsehood and misinformation are not spread on social media.”
The clerics also called on the media to be more responsible in their reporting.
“The media has a responsibility to report the truth,” they said.
“They should not be used to spread falsehood and misinformation.”
The clerics said they believe that if all Nigerians work together, they can overcome the challenge of falsehood and misinformation.
“We can overcome this challenge if we work together,” they said.
“We need to be more responsible in our use of social media. We also need to call out those who spread falsehood and misinformation.”
Source: Vanguard news
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