TheNewsGuru

Tag: Social Media

Social Media

  • Social media promoting hate speeches, insecurity – Lalong

    Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau said on Monday in Jos that the social media was promoting hate speeches and instigating insecurity in the country.

    Lalong, while declaring open a one-day town hall meeting organised by Plateau Peace Building Agency to mark the 2017 World Peace Day, stated that the social media was filled with hate utterances that incite and set the stages for mayhem and rancour.

    Represented by Mr Rufus Bature, Secretary to the Government of Plateau, Lalong alleged that rumours steadily spewed into the social media had often led to bad blood and cause massive confusion.

    He blamed the tension and confusion that enveloped Jos, last week, to such tales in the social media, and wondered why the unrest in the South-East could trigger pandemonium in Plateau “of all places”.

    The governor emphasised the need for stakeholders to work together to reverse the wild trends in the social media, adding that his administration had initiated series of dialogue sessions to foster peaceful coexistence.

    “Last week, I initiated dialogue sessions with communities and groups to prevent escalation of the violence. I also directed the Director-General, Plateau Peace Building, to convene similar meetings with other groups.

    “I understand that two of such meetings have been held with civil society organizations and with social activists; I look forward to receiving the recommendations,” he said.

    Lalong appreciated efforts of security operatives in bringing the skirmishes under control.

    Mr Joseph Lengmang, the Director-General, Plateau Peace Building Agency, in his remark, stressed the need for proactive steps to sustain peace in the state.

     

  • No big deal, if Buhari orders military to monitor Nigerians on social media – Presidency

    The Presidency has stated that there was nothing wrong if the military monitors social media interactions of Nigerians to curtail excesses of hate speech and other acts that can jeopardise the unity and safety of the country.

    This was revealed by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on a monitored programme on Channels Television.

    According to the Presidential aide, it was not out of place if President Muhammadu Buhari mandated the military to monitor the social media as long as it was part of their “national security duties”.

    While defending Buhari for his concern about the use of the social media for promoting extremism, Shehu said: “I know that this country, in fact, the whole world has a big problem with balancing free speech and what we call in this country hate speech.

    “It has many faces depending on which country you are dealing with. In most of these European countries, (and) America, they are dealing with Islamic terror. In America, white extremism and all of that… All of it fed substantially by the Internet.

    “I believe that people can justified that. A lot of countries are taking notes. If Nigeria does it, I don’t know. I’m in a position to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But if it happens in this country, it is not extraordinary, it is not unusual. Everybody is interested. Look, this thing about international terrorism is big and nobody is leaving it to chances.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the military had Sequel to President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech last week that the social media was fast becoming a tool for promotion of hate speech decided that it will henceforth monitor the social media interactions of people to detect promoters of hate speech.

    Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche, who revealed this said the move became necessary in the light of troubling activities and misinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.

    Enenche held that the social media has always been a challenge all over the world and for the military, it is no different.

    “It is a double-edged sword and we are also having a bit of it,” he said.

    “Imagine when the President came back and addressed the nation, not up to 30 minutes later, a fake speech of the Commander-In-Chief was being circulated in order to do what? To derail the people. If you are not very sharp and if you didn’t listen to the speech or you don’t have a copy of it like I had it almost immediately, you wouldn’t know. So, looking at it from that perspective, it is a challenge everywhere.”

    What are we doing? In the military, we are now taking on it more seriously than ever. We have our strategic media centres that monitor the social media to be able to sieve out and react to all the ones that will be anti-government, be anti-military, (and) be anti-security,” the military chief continued.

    “We tackle them appropriately with appropriate responses. Ahead of that, we are also proactive. We have measures in place, scientific measures to be able to sieve this information and also to get the public and let them know that some of this information they are getting is not genuine are not true and their objective is an anti-corporate existence of this country.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Federal Government recently categorise hate speeches as terrorism and hopes to deal with suspects with same consequences.

     

  • Stop monitoring of Nigerians on social media by military authorities, SERAP tells Buhari

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to “use your good offices and leadership position to instruct the military authorities to immediately end any monitoring of activities of Nigerians on the social media, and to ensure that military operations comply with Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the country’s obligations under international human rights law.”

    In the letter dated 25 August 2017 and signed by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale the organization expressed “serious concern that any monitoring of Nigerians on social media by the military authorities would directly violate the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and privacy online. Instructing the military to end any such monitoring would help your government to defend and keep to its oft-repeated commitment to human rights, transparency and accountability.”

    The organization said that, “Monitoring of the social media by the military is neither necessary nor proportionate, and could portray your government as working to control the political and social media space. Classifying legitimate exercise of freedom of expression as ‘hate speech’ is counter-productive, In exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and privacy, Nigerians should be allowed to speak truth to power and stand up for their rights.”

    According to the organization, “Monitoring Nigerians on social media would criminalize their freedom and the activity of journalists that are critical of the government and censor the media from reporting on sensitive and critical information that is relevant to the public interest but controversial to the government. It would have a chilling effect on media activities in Nigeria, and pose a serious threat to the ability of Nigerians to meaningfully participate in their own government.”

    The organization’s letter followed reported statement by the Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche that the activities of Nigerians on the social media are now being monitored for hate speech, anti-government and anti-security information by the military. He justified this move on the alleged grounds of “troubling activities and misinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.”

    The letter read in part: “To monitor Nigerians’ access to social media solely on the basis that it may be used to express views critical of the government or the political social system espoused by the government is entirely incompatible and inconsistent with constitutional guarantees and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations and commitments.”

    “SERAP notes that protecting critical expression on the Internet is the standard by which governments are now held to be considered genuinely democratic. Nigerians should, therefore, be allowed to discuss government policies and engage in political debate; report on corruption in government; and exercise their right to expression of opinion and dissent.”

    “While we recognize the obligation to protect against hate speech that constitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence, this should not be used as a pretext to clamp down on legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression that does not constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. Blanket clarification of expression that falls short of expression that constitutes incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination under international law can only limit media freedom and chill discourse deemed controversial or critical of your government.”

    “SERAP notes that sections 37 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantee the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Similarly, article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party protects Nigerians’ right to maintain an opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers. Under article 19(3) of the Covenant, restrictions on the right to freedom of expression must be “provided by law”, and necessary for “the rights or reputations of others” or “for the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health and morals”. Permissible restrictions on the internet are the same as those offline.”

    “Further, article 17(1) of the Covenant provides for the rights of Nigerians to be protected, inter alia, against unlawful or arbitrary interference with their privacy and correspondence, and provides that everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference. “Unlawful” means that no interference may take place except in cases envisaged by the law which in itself must comply with provisions, aims and objectives of the Covenant. SERAP believes that articles 17 and 19 of the Covenant are closely connected, as the right to privacy is an essential requirement for the realization of the right to freedom of expression.”

    “SERAP notes the Human Rights Council resolution 20/8 on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet adopted on 5 July 2012, which affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice. It further called upon all States to promote and facilitate access to the Internet and international cooperation aimed at the development of media and information and communications facilities in all countries.”

  • We are monitoring social media conversations, posts for hate speech – Military

    Sequel to President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on Monday that the social media is fast becoming a tool for promotion of hate speech, the military has stated that it will henceforth monitor the social media interactions of people to detect promoters of hate speech.

    Director of Defence Information, Major-General John Enenche, made the revelation on Channels Television’s News at 10 on Wednesday, saying the move became necessary in the light of troubling activities and misinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.

    Enenche held that the social media has always been a challenge all over the world and for the military, it is no different.

    “It is a double-edged sword and we are also having a bit of it,” he said.

    “Imagine when the President came back and addressed the nation, not up to 30 minutes later, a fake speech of the Commander-In-Chief was being circulated in order to do what? To derail the people. If you are not very sharp and if you didn’t listen to the speech or you don’t have a copy of it like I had it almost immediately, you wouldn’t know. So, looking at it from that perspective, it is a challenge everywhere.”

    “What are we doing? In the military, we are now taking on it more seriously than ever. We have our strategic media centres that monitor the social media to be able to sieve out and react to all the ones that will be anti-government, be anti-military, (and) be anti-security,” the military chief continued.

    “We tackle them appropriately with appropriate responses. Ahead of that, we are also proactive. We have measures in place, scientific measures to be able to sieve this information and also to get the public and let them know that some of this information they are getting is not genuine are not true and their objective is an anti-corporate existence of this country.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Federal Government recently categorise hate speeches as terrorism and hopes to deal with suspects with same consequences.

  • Social Media, two-edged sword for Information Officers – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the social media is a double-edged sword for information officers because of its real time advantage and the challenge of fake news.

    Mohammed made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at the opening of a two-day capacity building exercise for Strategic Communication Liaison Officers organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

     

    “Undeniably, technological advances have redefined the media landscape and the way information officers communicate government activities to the public.

     

    “But for the information officers, the social media is a double-edged sword.

     

    “Whereas it allows them to reach their audiences much faster, it also poses a lot of challenges, in particular, because the social media is blurring the line between fact and fiction between real news and fake news.

     

    “How the information officers overcome this challenge will go a long way in determining his or her success,’’ he said.

     

    The minister said that government information officers were strategic to achieving national strategic objectives through the strengthening of government communication.

     

    He said that the mandate of his ministry “is to manage the image, reputation and promote the culture of the people and government of Nigeria.’’.

     

    In realising the mandate, the minister recalled that in December last year, he launched a Federal Government Information APP (FGN-iAPP) as part of strategic communications activities to bridge the communication gap and bring people a click away from government.

     

    He said that the ministry also used town hall meetings, organised across the six geo-political zones to inform Nigerians and the international community about government programmes and to listen to criticism, feedback and advice from the citizens.

     

    The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to carrying people along in task of governance.

     

    He said that the ministry was leveraging on various social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype, Twitter and Instagram, among others to reach its audiences, especially the youths.

     

    The National Security Adviser, Alhaji Babagana Monguno said that the objective of the workshop was to harmonise government communication channels and activities.

     

    Monguno, who was represented by Mr Aminu Nabegu,

    a Permanent Secretary in the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation said the present administration had eliminated inter-agency rivalry in its approach to effective communication.

     

    He challenged participants to come up with a strategic communication plan to counter the propaganda and negative narratives by terror and anti-state groups.

     

     

  • PDP S’Court Judgement: Sheriff disowns social media account, says ‘I did not congratulate Makarfi’

    …Says party now in the hands of looters

    Former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has disowned a social media account on Twitter where he purportedly congratulated Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic party chairman following the Supreme Court judgement on Wednesday.

    Sheriff also noted that that the party has now been handed over to those he described as treasury looters.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Supreme Court on Wednesday sacked Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff who had hitherto held sway as the party’s chairman. The court reinstated Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic and recognised chairman.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that as part of efforts to start a national reconciliation process to bring aggrieved members of the party who had either defected to other parties or distanced themselves from the former ruling party, the spokesperson for the Makarfi-led committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, had on Thursday said it was offering Sheriff and his group “amnesty”, adding that nobody would be punished for the loss which the party had suffered since the beginning of the crisis. He, however, warned that the party would not condone further negative actions by Sheriff and his group.

    But Sheriff, who spoke through the spokesperson for the National Working Committee sacked by the Supreme Court, Mr. Bernard Mikko, said it was wrong for the Makarfi-led caretaker committee to have said the PDP would grant him and members of his former executive committee “amnesty”.

    Others in Sheriff’s camp include the party’s former National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo; Sheriff’s deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, and some members of the National Assembly.

    The Sheriff-led faction also had the support of some state chapters of the party and some governors.

    Mikko, in a message sent to our correspondent, described Adeyeye’s statement as reckless, saying that “amnesty” ought to be given to those who had committed offence against the party.

    He said that Sheriff and his group did not occupy the national secretariat of the party illegally, adding that the party belonged to all.

    He said, “I take exception to the reckless statement credited to Prince Dayo Adeyeye, suggesting that amnesty has been granted to Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, his National Working Committee and supporters. Amnesty is a reprieve for those who have committed offence under our statute.”

    According to Mikko, Sheriff and his camp were forced to vacate the party’s national secretariat by the police.

    He said, “However, the office was officially reopened for us after we presented the Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, to the Inspector- General of Police.

    “I am, therefore, concerned about the future of our party in the hands of some of those who are known to have pending criminal cases, bordering (on) fraud, treasury looting and dishonesty, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    “The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the highest court in our land and we await the copy of the full judgment delivered on July 12, 2017.

    “No one owns the party and those making unguarded and reckless statements in the public domain should realise that the solution to the problem of Nigeria is beyond any political association. Unacceptable and unjustifiable means cannot lead to a justifiable and acceptable end.”

    On the alleged congratulatory message to Makarfi and his group, Mikko described “the alleged congratulatory message credited to an imaginary Twitter handle of Sheriff” as a fraud.

    He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Sheriff does not have or own a Twitter account and could not have tweeted any message.

    “We, therefore, view the said message as fake and mischievous and should be regarded as that of evil doers.

    “We further warn all mischief-makers to desist from trying to exploit the huge political capital of Senator Sheriff for selfish gains.”

    In its reaction, the Makarfi-led committee said it would no longer allow Sheriff and his group to distract it, adding that it would henceforth devote its time to building the party.

    It also said its time would be spent constructively criticising the APC-led Federal Government.

    Adeyeye also said the PDP no longer had factions.

    He said, “I will no longer engage them. Supreme Court is the final arbiter and it has pronounced that there is no faction in the PDP.

    “We have done the right thing by offering our hands of fellowship to them. We won’t engage them any longer because we are now one.”

  • Facebook announces Messenger ads expansion for businesses

    Facebook announces Messenger ads expansion for businesses

    Facebook has announced Messenger ads will begin popping up on home screens of users globally, while also urging businesses take advantage of it.

    The social network giant revealed this in an online post on Tuesday saying, “Today we’re pleased to announce the global beta expansion of Messenger ads. People already spend time on Messenger interacting and conducting commerce with businesses and brands they love, and now with Messenger ads, they have an opportunity to discover experiences directly on their home tab”.

    Facebook enticed businesses to take advantage of a new tool for creating ads for Messenger, which it said is used by more than 1.2 billion people monthly.

    “Messenger is dedicated to building new and creative ways to help businesses and developers connect with the more than 1.2 billion people around the world who use the platform every month,” the post further stated.

    Facebook announces Messenger ads expansion for businesses

    Facebook says “for developers, having a variety of ways to surface the conversational, visual and social experiences they’ve built for businesses and people is crucial,” and that “Messenger ads offer developers and businesses a way to use Facebook targeting to extend their reach to people around the world”.

    The Facebook suite of ad products in Messenger now include:

    • Messenger ads – found in the home tab of Messenger. When people tap on an ad, they will be sent to the destination chosen during ads creation. This can be your website or a Messenger conversation.
    • Click to Messenger ads – takes full advantage of the personalized nature of messaging by driving people to a conversation after they interact with the ad in Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.
    • Sponsored messages – allows businesses to re-engage with people who have started a conversation with them.

    “Starting today, some advertisers will begin to see Messenger ads as part of automatic placements within Power Editor and Ads Manager.

    “Advertisers will be able to add Messenger to campaigns using the Traffic and Conversion objectives and leverage existing targeting options,” Facebook stated.

    The social media firm said a small percentage of people will begin to see ads in their Messenger Home tab towards the end of this month.

    If you’re working with a brand or business, Facebook says, if you are interested in learning more, further information and creative options can be found here.

     

  • Twitter rolls out advance features to curb abusive behaviours

    Twitter, in its latest step to curb abusive behaviours on its platform, rolled out new features on Monday to help users disable notifications from accounts that they want to avoid.

    The micro-blogging website said its “advanced filter settings” will now have options for users to mute notifications from accounts that they do not follow as well as from accounts that do not follow them.

    Users can also filter lower-quality content from notifications such as content that appears to be automated and mute notifications related to certain words and phrases.

    Twitter had said in March that it would introduce new filtering options for notifications to allow users to limit what they see from certain types of accounts, such as those that do not have a profile photo.

    Twitter and rival Facebook have been facing a barrage of criticism for failing to tackle cyber-bullying, fake news and extremist propaganda on their platforms.

    To set quality filter on the web:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline.
    2. To filter your notifications, click on Settings.
    3. Click the box next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    4. Click the Save changes button.
    To set quality filter using Twitter for iOS:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap the gear icon
    3. Drag the slider next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    To set quality filter using Twitter for Android:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap the gear icon
    3. Check the box next to quality filter to turn on or off.
    To set filters on the web:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline.
    2. To filter your notifications, click on Settings.
    3. Check the box of your preferred filter(s) to turn on.
    To set filters using Twitter for iOS:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap on the gear icon
    3. Tap Advanced filters.
    4. Drag the slider next to your preferred filter(s) to turn on.
    To set filters using Twitter for Android:
    1. Go to your Notifications timeline
    2. Tap on the gear icon
    3. Tap Advanced filters.
    4. Check the box of your preferred filter(s) to turn on.

     

     

  • Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?

    Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?

    I did as did some millions of Facebook users who received the warning message about a friend request from some Jayden K. Smith.

    Globally, Facebook and Twitter users have been sent into a frenzy being warned not to accept an unsolicited friend request from one mysterious Jayden K. Smith, who is not Will Smith’s son because that would be Jaden Smith.

    “Please tell all the contacts in your messenger list not to accept Jayden K. Smith friendship request.

    Did you receive the Jayden K. Smith message?
    This Jaden Smith does not want to be your Facebook friend, most probably. Source: Instagram

    “He is a hacker and has the system connected to your Facebook account. If one of your contacts accepts it, you will also be hacked, so make sure that all your friends know it. Thanks. Forwarded as received.

    “Hold your finger down on the message. At the bottom in the middle it will say forward. Hit that then click on the names of those in your list and it will send to them,” was the version of the message I received from more than 15 contacts I know on my friends’list.

    This drove my curiosity to want to find out what this is all about and it took me to myth-busting website, Snopes that this has been a “long running hoax”.

    “Accepting a Facebook friend request from a stranger will not provide hackers with access to your computer and online accounts.

    “Variants of these messages are circulated endlessly, with different names swapped in and out.

    “The most common variant of this hoax is one that warns the reader not to accept Facebook friend requests from ‘hackers’ purportedly named ‘Christopher Davies’ and ‘Jessica Davies,’ otherwise one of the two will wreak some unspecified havoc,” Snopes said in a post busting the Jayden K. Smith myth.

    As to whether it’s dangerous, it’s generally thought not. Simply accepting a friend request is a relatively inefficient way of delivering a virus or other IT nasty. Fooling people into opening a rogue email attachment works far better.

    But there’s no guarantees, states Snopes.

    “It’s not outside the realm of possibility that an e-mail message or a link posted on Facebook might carry a virus payload which could infect your computer and allow it be controlled by a botnet, but virus warnings that correspond to the patterns detailed above can be safely dismissed as japes,” Snopes further stated.

     

  • Which are you? Study shows four types of Facebook users

    Which are you? Study shows four types of Facebook users

    A new study has shown there are four types of Facebook users on the social media platform, revealed in what users display the most, and why they do so.

    The researchers from Brigham Young University say 1.28 billion people check in on Facebook each day, and that they each spend about 35 minutes browsing their feeds.

    “Social media is so ingrained in everything we do right now,” study co-author Kris Boyle says, adding: “And most people don’t think about why they do it, but if people can recognize their habits, that at least, create awareness”.

    The study, published in the International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, found people generally fell into four categories.

    • Relationship builders respond to other people’s posts and use Facebook to strengthen real-world relationships. “They use it as an extension of their real life, with their family and real-life friends,” study lead author Tom Robinson says.
    • Town criers, however, make a distinction between their real and virtual worlds. They don’t share photos or stories about themselves. Instead, they “want to inform everybody about what’s going on” by reposting news stories and announcing events.
    • Selfies self-promote. They are heavy posters of pictures, videos and updates. But their motive is to get attention, unlike relationship builders. Study co-author Kris Boyle says selfies use Facebook “to present an image of themselves, whether it’s accurate or not.”
    • Window shoppers are there, but they generally don’t want to be seen. They feel a sense of obligation to see what their friends and associates are saying, but rarely contribute themselves. “It’s the social-media equivalent of people watching,” study co-author Clark Callahan says.

    “What is it about this social-media platform that has taken over the world?” study lead author, Tom Robinson asks.

    “Why are people so willing to put their lives on display? Nobody has ever really asked the question, ‘Why do you like this?’” he further queried.

    The study, he says, goes some way to answering these questions by identifying our human motivations.

    While similar categories to ‘relationship-builder’ and ‘selfie’ users have been found by other studies, the researchers say the emergence of ‘town criers’ and ‘window shoppers’ was an unexpected find.

    “Nobody had really talked about these users before, but when we thought about it, they both made a lot of sense,” Robinson says.

    But the definitions are not always clear-cut.

    Many users may identify with more than one category.

    Most people have some degree of ‘selfie’ behaviour. But almost all fall more into one category than all the others.

    Are you a Relationship builder, a town crier, a selfie or a window shopper Facebook user? Leave a comment below!