President Bola Tinubu has lamented that the recurring incidences of fake news as well as voice and facial cloning by the media in the country was concerning.
Restating his commitment to the freedom of the press as a necessary ingredient to democracy, the President urged journalist to replace sensationalism with professionalism.
Tinubu said this on Thursday night in his remarks at the maiden State House Media Dinner organized by the State House Press Corps at the Conference Centre of the Presidential Villa.
Tinubu said “The recurring incidents of misinformation, disinformation, fake news, voice and facial cloning and deep fakes are concerning.
“These are the drawbacks of the social media age. Media practitioners should not be willing couriers of falsehood or unverified information injurious to national security and the nation.”
The President noted that though the government and the media may intrrelTr and pretend to be friends, they are always adversaries in every democratic setting
“Now, before tomorrow’s headlines announce that the President has declared war on the media, let me quickly clarify.
“We are adversaries only in the democratic sense, as the media constantly distrust those in power. In nation-building, we are partners.
“Government exists to serve the people through leadership, policy, and public service. The media exists to serve society by watching those entrusted with power, asking difficult questions, and holding government accountable.
The Nigerian people have deliberately assigned us these roles. Government must act.
The media must watch. Government must explain. The media must question. That arrangement guarantees a certain level of tension.
It ensures that we are constantly at each other’s throats—not because we dislike one another, but because democracy demands it.
“This partnership and rivalry will not disappear as long as governments exist.
“We live in an era where misinformation and disinformation travel faster than facts.
“The media must choose fact over falsehood. The media must choose substance over sensation. The media must choose credibility over clickbait and the endless race for followers, likes, and viral outrage.
The public depends on journalists not merely to report events, but to separate fact from fiction, truth from speculation, and evidence from opinion. In a world where everyone with a smartphone is now a journalist, the responsibility of professional journalism has never been greater” he cautioned.
“Professional journalism must remain the standard by which truth is distinguished from rumour and facts from fiction. Let me also say clearly that freedom of expression is not freedom to defame. Freedom of the press is not freedom to deliberately mislead.
Rights come with responsibilities. Public trust is earned through fairness, professionalism, accuracy, and integrity.
The media space is no longer an unregulated frontier. Nigeria has enacted laws, including the Cybercrimes Act and other relevant legislation, to protect citizens from malicious falsehoods, cyberstalking, identity theft, and other abuses that increasingly accompany the digital age.
These safeguards are not intended to weaken press freedom. Rather, they exist to protect citizens and preserve the integrity of our information ecosystem.
“Let us replace needless hostility with constructive engagement. Let us replace sensationalism with professionalism. Let us replace the pursuit of outrage with the pursuit of truth.
“Together, let us continue building a nation where truth matters, accountability thrives, democracy flourishes, and every Nigerian has reason to believe in the promise of our country.”
Commenting on his reforms and the nation’s economy, Tinubu said “Nigeria today is undergoing one of the most ambitious periods of reform in its history. The difficult but necess
