Fake News- NMG explains after circulation of false Jimmy Wanjigi headline

Mumbi Mutuko

March 13, 2019 12:13 PM

Fake News Alert

NMG's statement on fake front page headline

A newspaper headline purported to be from the Daily Nation which was circulating online claiming that businessman Jimmy Wanjigi was paid Ksh6.5 billion in the dams saga has been termed as fake news.

Nation Media Group (NMG) on Wednesday debunked the fake headline and posted the legit one from their Wednesday paper on their Twitter page.

The paper purporting to be from NMG's daily nation was a photoshop which most online users believed to be true although it was not circulated as a hardcopy in the morning.

NMG's statement on fake front page headline Pulse Live Kenya

Propaganda

Propaganda rise has rocked the country and Kenyans ought to be watchful of what they share on social media platforms lest they taint the image of personalities especially in the ongoing war on graft.

In 2018, a report by Washington-based lobby Freedom House downgraded Kenya’s ranking as ‘partly free’ from ‘free’, marking one of the largest drops among the 65 countries that featured in the global ranking for internet freedom.

Reports of fake news hit Kenya after the 2017 general election and an expose which shed a light into the activities of political campaigns firm Cambridge Analytica which was actively involved in misinformation during Kenya’s elections on behalf of Jubilee Party.

Penalties for fake news

The Computer and Cybercrimes Act 2018, introduced hefty penalties for publishing information deemed false or fictitious by the State.