The former member of the House of Representatives and Husband of Nollywood actress Regina Daniels had decided to use legal action against those who use his name to gain followership and spread false information.
This drastic step was engendered following the recent rumors about marrying a new wife.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, the billionaire noted that the rumor was fake news as he called on the general public to stop spreading such stories.
He noted that if he wanted to get married, it would not be done in secrecy.
To really buttress how serious the offense of carrying fake news about him is, Ned Nwoko warned,
“There is a particular group of little minded faceless individuals who believe they can gain followership in the social media by using my name to create sensational news every week. I will keep being law abiding and reporting the miscreants to the police for appropriate actions. When such misguided individuals are arrested, don’t accuse me of using the law against them.”
This phenomenon calls to mind the recent trend of modern online journalism where news and information lacks credibility and originality.
The easy accessibility of information via the social media space has afforded every Tom, Dick and Harry the opportunity to disseminate news whether credible or not.
As noticed in recent times, the number of followers amassed by an individual online and the sort of traffic generated on any particular site verifies social importance plus revenue generation. To achieve these feats, many uncensored individuals have resorted to sensational Journalism; this involves spreading juicy stories whether true or false so as to gain recognition and boost information sales with the goal of making profit.
That is why most famous people, celebrities and renowned personalities have duplicated social media accounts and unverified websites opened by uncensored individuals to gain media traffic, attention and profit. These people in turn, use these platforms to circulate false news about prominent societal figures by unleashing harmful rumors and false alarms.
The damaging effect of sensational journalism cannot be underrated as many people do not verify news sources before they recirculate. Unfortunately, many news media parrot these sensationalized information without due checks and balances thereby causing much harm such as defamation and character assassination.
In conclusion, measures should be taken to curb this unsavory phenomenon of the mass media. Ned Nwoko’s stance on this issue is a step forward in mitigation of the harm of false information. Laws regulating the use of the social media should come in handy and immediate prosecution on defaulters could be elemental in solving this problem.
