The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the Federal Government and Google are collaborating to curb what he described as the “excesses of subversive YouTube channels which are used to spread hate and disinformation against the country.”
Mohammed, who stated this when a team from Google visited him in Abuja on Thursday, expressed delight that both the government and the technology company shared the same concern on the responsible use of the social media.
He was quoted by the Special Assistant to the President on Media in the Office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Segun Adeyemi, as saying, “We want Google to look into how to tackle the use of private and unlisted YouTube channels and YouTube livestreams by proscribed groups and terrorist organisations”.
He added: “Channels and emails containing names of proscribed groups and their affiliates should not be allowed on Google platforms.”
Mohammed, who stated that Google was a platform of choice for IPOB, a proscribed terrorist group, implored the tech giant to deny IPOB the use of its platform for its acts of violence and destabilisation.
He said Nigerians are among the most vibrant social media users in the world, with over 100 million internet users in the country, and that internet platforms such as Google, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and WhatsApp enable Nigerians to interact, share ideas, earn a living and participate in social and political affairs.
He, however, observed that those platforms are also used by unscrupulous persons or groups for subversive and nefarious activities.
Mohammed said the Federal Government recently proposed a “Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries” in an attempt to provide a framework for collaboratively protecting Nigerian users of internet platforms.
He said: “This code couldn’t have come at a better time, as the country prepares for general elections next year. We are committed to working with platforms like yours, as well as the civil society, lawyers, media practitioners and other relevant stakeholders, to ensure a responsible use of the internet and to protect our people from the harmful effects of social media.”
In his remarks, Google’s Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Mr. Charles Murito, revealed that the platform has introduced a programme called “Trusted Flaggers” for citizens trained to track and engage with online contents in order to flag contents of serious concern.
“As I mentioned earlier, we share the same sentiments, we share the same goals and objectives and we do not want our platform to be used for ill purposes,” he said.
On his part, Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, Mr. Adewolu Adene, said “Equiano”, a subsea cable which recently berthed in Nigeria from Portugal, is aimed at enhancing connectivity and access to the internet, as well as to drive down the cost of data, in order to create jobs and facilitate the transfer of knowledge.
He said through the Google News Initiative Challenge, 30 media platforms, with five from Nigeria, including the Dubawa fact-checking platform, would be awarded a $3.2 million grant in recognition of their innovative work in information dissemination.
Adene also pledged the readiness of Google to work with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to digitise the recently-repatriated artifacts in order to preserve and market them to a global audience through Google Arts and Culture.
