At the 2025 commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, convened by NPO Reports, media leaders, civil society advocates, and journalists convened in an X Space to confront the growing threat of fake news, particularly its strategic use by political actors to manipulate public opinion and erode trust in democratic institutions.
The event, themed “Fake News, Political Agenda, and the Erosion of Public Trust in the Media,” featured a robust conversation about the crisis of credibility plaguing the media landscape and the urgent need for systemic reforms.
Speaking at the meeting, Zikora Ibeh, Assistant Executive Director at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), who represented the organisation’s Executive Director, challenged the common narrative that Nigeria lacks legal frameworks to tackle misinformation. “Nigeria is not suffering from a lack of laws against fake news,” she noted. “The real issue is enforcement failure and the weak institutional will to proactively communicate accurate, timely information to the public.”
According to Ibeh, the government’s frequent resort to punitive crackdowns and censorship—often justified under the guise of fighting fake news—has failed to produce meaningful results. Instead, she argued, state institutions must embrace a culture of openness and accountability. “When institutions consistently withhold information about their governance activities or obscure the truth, they inadvertently create a vacuum that disinformation quickly fills. Rebuilding public trust means reinforcing institutional transparency, not stifling dissent or press freedom,” she said.
The conversation around media responsibility was furthered by Kolapo Olapoju, Editor of TheCable, who offered a candid critique of the media’s internal challenges. He acknowledged that while political disinformation is rampant, the media itself must confront its complicity. “We are dealing with a significant trust deficit,” he said. “There is a lot of fake news, yes, but we also have to look inward. The profession is being flooded with untrained practitioners who dilute our standards, and we have been slow to correct that.”
Dr. Bisi Deji-Folutile, Editor-in-Chief of Frank Talk Now, also drew attention to the structural forces that influence media narratives. She pointed out that many instances of fake news are not simply the work of random individuals on social media, but part of calculated disinformation campaigns by political and economic elites. “There’s hardly anything fake in our media space today that isn’t engineered from somewhere,” she asserted. “Often, the media becomes a tool, knowingly or unknowingly, in amplifying these falsehoods.”
Throughout the event, a common thread emerged: the need to reclaim the media’s role as a bastion of truth in an increasingly polluted information ecosystem. Speakers called for the institutionalisation of fact-checking, the strengthening of media ethics, and digital literacy programs that empower citizens to discern credible sources from misinformation.
The commemorative event also spotlighted the blurry lines between journalism and content creation in the digital age. Participants stressed the need for clearer professional boundaries, urging the media industry to distinguish between trained journalists and social media influencers or unverified commentators. hey also acknowledged the risks of misinformation, including its potential to ignite violence, distort electoral processes, and undermine democracy. For this reason, the responsibility to protect the truth can no longer lie with journalists alone. It must also be embraced by institutions, lawmakers, and an informed citizenry.
