Stakeholders Canvass Deployment
Stakeholders Canvass Deployment of Social media to Curb
Cybercrimes
Stakeholders in the Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) sector have advocated for a responsive, beneficial and decent
use of the social media in order to address the menace of fake
news, hate speech, advance fee fraud and cybercrimes, among
others.
They made the plea at the fourth edition of the annual ‘Nigerian
Social Media Summit’ (NSMS), and the launching of Tech Mirror
Magazine.
The event which the theme “Social media as a tool for
participatory governance,” had in attendance various ICT experts,
youth organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs),
journalists and human rights activists.
The summit’s keynote speaker, Mallam Yushau Shuaib, who is the
Founder of Image Merchant Promotions Limited (IMPR), pointed out
that the use of social media transcended governance purposes.
“We need to understand how to use the social media
appropriately, both economically and also for advocacy in better
governance,” he said.
The award-winning Public Relations (PR) expert, added that while
the use of social media for governance has become increasingly
important, there is need to also adhere to ethics in order to check
the spate of hate speech and fake news.
Chairman of the event, YZ Yau, the Executive Director of Centre
for Information Technology Advancement and Development (CITAD),
while declaring the event open, emphasized the need to build more
impacts around the social media.
Earlier, the Creative Director of
Nigerian Technology Market, Olanrewaju Oyedeji, said the need to
stimulate relevant discussions through the social media berthed the
NSMS, adding that NSMS has become a household name which will
continue to set agenda for the effective use of various social
media platforms.
The representative of the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Zakani
Shekmaga, said the Nigerian Police will continue to support the
activities of players in the ICT sector.
Speaking separately, Speaker of the Nigerian Youth Parliament
(NYP), Mubarak Mijinyawa, and the President of National Youth
Council of Nigeria, Bello Shagari, called on youths to participate
in democratic governance and decision-making through the social
media.
The summit was sponsored by CITAD.