Social Media Issues In The Military Essay

The army also proposed free medical outreach in the region. This is quite different from the pictures painted on social media; many chose to paint the exercise as an operation to systematically exterminate the Igbos.
The Nigerian Army also shared hotlines and toll-free call centre information to ensure the proper conduct of the exercise. Instead of this information spreading like wildfire on social media so as to ensure the protection of human rights, people chose to spread the impression that the army was coming to slaughter and brutalize the Igbos. There was also false news of attacks on both Igbos and Hausas, all these have contributed to the tension in the country.
That is not to say that there have been no cases of human rights violations, abuses and extrajudicial killings by the Nigerian Army. There have been many, including substantiated, exaggerated and unconfirmed cases. Social media should be used to expose such incidents when they occur and not as a tool for terrorizing citizens and causing division in the country.
They say information is power, but misinformation could also mean pollution and like all other pollutants, the effects of misinformation are difficult to eradicate. There should be a conscious effort to curb this recklessness. For instance, Law enforcement agencies and Civil Liberties Organizations should encourage civilians to send such disturbing information (including pictures and videos) directly to them as they may turn out to be reliable Intel, especially when such information is unlikely to have any positive impact if allowed to spread. Social media users should also make some efforts at fact checking when possible, to avoid sharing malicious