NITDA DG Kashifu raises alarm over fake news threat to Nigeria

The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, says fake news travels faster than factual stories on social media.

Kashifu raised the alarm on Friday at a digital journalism workshop in Kano organized by PRNigeria and Penlight Centre for Investigative Reporting.

He said the dominance of fake news was a threat to journalism and appealed to media professionals to act.

Assuring of NITDA’s support, the official promised that the agency “will work with journalists and organisations to promote digital literacy.”

On cybersecurity in Nigeria, Kashifu confirmed that the government had put in place structures to protect the ecosystem.

He said cybersecurity was one of the strategic pillars under the strategic action plan and listed the three things NITDA is doing.

“First, a lot of awareness so that people know the dos and don’ts of social media. That’s what will hold them to protect confidential information.

“Second, we have a centre called the computer emergency readiness and response centre working round the clock to make sure we proactively protect our digital space.

“Third, we help MDAs, private organisations and individuals to protect data and information”, the DG added.

Kashifu disclosed that a team of experts are on standby to help people restore services in case systems are compromised.

PRNigeria Publisher, Yushau Shuaib, said the workshop was organized to acquaint journalists with the appropriate digital tools to promote professional standards.