The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says unregulated use of social media and other digital platforms poses enormous global challenges.

The minister reiterated this position at a session to welcome participants to the Global Media and Information Literacy Week holding in Abuja.

The week-long event with the theme “Nurturing Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative” is being attended by 193 UNESCO member countries physically and virtually.

In addressing the global challenge, Mr Mohammed said there was an urgent need for every person to be equipped with the ability to evaluate and wisely use the information at their disposal critically.

The minister, who has overtime called for the regulation of social media, said the event’s theme was apt and timely as the world and its leaders contend with the challenge of identifying what is true and what is false because of the use of media and information.

Mr Mohammed said he was optimistic that with the opinions, suggestions and contributions of participants at the sessions and plenary at the week-long event, solutions would be proffered to the challenges.

“Contributions and questions will all be geared toward finding the linkages to building trust among our societies and individuals through the use of media and Information literacy,” he said.

He welcomed the participants to the 11th edition of the event, adding that the various interactions would form the basis for a lasting friendship after the event.

The welcome session was attended by Tawfik Jelassi, the assistant director general of UNESCO on communication and information and Dihitri Sanga, Regional Director for West Africa, UNESCO.

The permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Lydia Jafiya, and some heads of parastatal agencies in the information unit of the ministry were also in attendance. 

Last year, Mr Mohammed said his perennial agitation for social media clampdown in Nigeria was to prevent another global war.

(NAN)