Stakeholders Canvass Deployment of Social media to Curb Cybercrimes

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.

By PRNigeria