By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Federal Government, on Saturday, lamented that “social media massacre” took place during the recent #EndSARS protests across the country.

This came from the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a meeting between a Federal Government delegation and South-East leaders.

Chief of Staff to President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, led the Federal Government delegation to the meeting at the Enugu Government House.

On the side of the South-East were the governors, religious and traditional leaders, as well as representatives of youth groups.

In what seemed to be a reference to the alleged killing of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Mohammed said: “The only massacre that took place during the #EndSARS was the social media massacre.

“Fake news were used, they used social media to spread what did not happen, which led to reprisals.”

He insisted that the social media must be regulated, stressing that “the Federal Government had warned about fake news as far back as 2017; we launched a national campaign against fake news because we foresaw this. Fake news kills more than any pandemic.

“There must be social media regulation. But social media regulation does not mean stifling the media, it does not mean shutting down the social media, it means responsive use of social media. Fake news can shake the cause of the world.”

Also at the meeting, Labour Minister, Dr Chris Ngige, asked for understanding of the citizens as government was being faced with severe economic challenges.

He said things became so bad that government was now borrowing to pay salaries.