The federal government has debunked reports making the rounds that the Ministry of Interior had initiated a regulation which would enable it to monitor and take note of all phone calls and social media posts made by Nigerians.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement issued by his special assistant on media and publicity, Segun Adeyemi on Monday, described the report as fiction and another example of disinformation that has permeated the media space, especially the social media.

Mohammed said that the purveyors of the false report intend to portray the federal government as trying to stifle freedom of speech, “which is not the case”.

He said: “There is no regulation, old or new, from the Ministry of Interior or any federal government agency requiring the recording of all calls or the monitoring of Social Media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter or Facebook.

“We are therefore using this medium to inform all Nigerians that what is being circulated in this regard is totally false and should be disregarded.”

Mohammed commended Nigerians “who have reached out to us in an effort to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of this information, which is now being widely circulated on the Social Media.”

“This is the best way to ensure that the purveyors of false news do not dominate our media space,” he said.