FG Meets Google, Says Press Freedom Comes with Enormous Responsibility

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Federal Government has said that press freedom comes with enormous responsibility that should not translate to an avenue for the creation of anarchy in the country.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this when he received a team from Google West Africa on a courtesy call to his office.

“We will partner with Google in promoting the free flow of information because democracy cannot survive without freedom of expression,” Idris said.

He said that it was not in the interest of the government to stifle freedom of expression but to promote healthy communication, adding that information is critical to the survival of any country. 

Idris also restated his support for a platform where people can express themselves freely.

He commended the effort to collaborate and find common ground for the regulation of online platforms such that they will not be used against the people that they are meant to serve.

The minister assured the team that the Federal Government will continue to promote freedom of expression, allowing the environment to be free for everybody to express themselves and have the right of access to information. 

He noted that it is critical that those who are responsible for bringing out information or creating the platforms are also very conscious of the fact that it can easily be used against the people it is meant to serve.

He commended Google for the good work they are doing and stated that the ministry will continue to engage with them and with others in its category to see that the issue of fake news becomes a thing of the past.

In his remark, the leader of the delegation from Google West Africa, Mr. Olumide Balogun, stated that in the last three years, Google had trained over 3,500 journalists to use different tools for news verification, including digital tools to manage misinformation.

“We have the Google News integration team that helps news organizations across the world, including Nigeria through what is called ‘Google Innovation Challenge’ to innovate and introduce new innovations to news organizations, one of the innovations that we funded, called ‘full fact’ is an AI technology that helps in fact-checking,” Balogun said.

The Google team pledged to support the ministry by training staff on online skills.