Fake news is a cancer: it metastasizes quietly and gently until it destroys the body of its host. Amplified by the ubiquity of smartphones and social media, fake news portends not just a threat to human lives but also endangers democracy. But a recurrent feature among the vast majority of fake news merchants is that they are either deluded of their invisibility, ignorant of the law, or arrogant to admit their limited knowledge.
In any case, most fake news millers only realized their follies once caught by the long arm of the law. In many ways, most of them often bask in the glow of their newfound social media hype until the noise melts under the weight of the law. The arraignment of Chike Ibezim by the Federal Government underscored this paradigm.
As tension around the verdict of last year’s Presidential Election Petition Tribunal boiled to the peak, Chike Ibezim alongside two others, quickly shone through the internet limelight. Their claim: Former Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola wrote the judgment of the Presidential election petition court in favor of the APC over petitions by the Labor Party and People’s Democratic Party. In an instant, their article caught fire on the web and became one of the most trending stories on the popular social media platform X. Not surprisingly, their supporters egged them on as most people who shared their sentiments urged them to continue in their dangerous adventure.
But like any and every fake news gibberish, Chike Ibezim and co’s argument fell by the wayside. To clear his name and reputation, Mr. Fashola petitioned the police, describing the publication as both malicious and injurious to him. In a similar vein and to demonstrate fair hearing, the police on the other side swung into action. First by questioning Mr Chike Ibezim, an acclaimed entrepreneur whose brother was behind the blog that published the story. He was first interrogated by the police in August 2023. After spending days in police custody, he was eventually released.
But in a dramatic turn of events, Chike Ibezim whose brother Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Jackson Udeh, are both on the run, was arraigned by an Abuja court yesterday. In essence, Ibezim’s arraignment brought to the fore the gravity and weight of his crime: his connection and collusion with the malicious publication, cyber-bullying, criminal conspiracy, and defamatory statement of false allegations among other related offenses. Incidentally, Chike Ibezim’s claims was part of the larger web of misinformation that characterized last year Presidential election in Nigeria. The allegation against Mr. Fashola’s name and reputation was just one of the tips of fake news iceberg. Plus, the effect of fake news on character assassination and reputational damage can never be overemphasized. For one, spreading false information about individuals can dent and destroy their personality, integrity, and reputation.
As the court case on this matter progresses, the damage to Mr. Fashola’s character can only be imagined. Ultimately, once reputation is damaged, trust follows suit. Significantly, fake news has also been noted to be a tool cleverly invented to manipulate opinion, undermine accountability, cause social unrest, endanger the media, and erode democratic values. And as Antonio Guterres once declared: Fake news is a real danger to democracy. We must fight it with everything we have.
