ABUJA, Nigeria — In Nigeria fake news can be so outlandish, yet widely believed, that the president recently felt compelled to declare that he had not died and been replaced by a Sudanese body double. The stakes are high in Nigeria ahead of Saturday’s presidential vote marked by widespread discontent over unemployment, poverty and insecurity in some parts of the country. “Some of the deadly clashes in Nigeria were sparked off by fake news.” He suggested that “the naming and shaming of members that peddle fake news” could stem the problem. Some African governments want to make publishing fake news a crime, a step too far for journalists in countries where the press already is censored and reporters can be jailed for critical stories. A magistrate ordered the activist, Moses Bigirwa, freed in January, ruling that publishing fake news was not a crime.

Source: National Post February 13, 2019 09:05 UTC