A Professor of Mass Communication at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Linus Ogbushi, has canvassed effective regulation in the use of social media platforms in view of their negative effects on society.

He stated that governments of every country should enact laws and regulations to regulate the use of social media in their country and strictly enforce them, adding that strong mechanisms for enforcing and implementing existing social media laws should be encouraged.

He also said that the Federal Government should provide the youths with gainful employment, stressing that it would help them to spend a greater percentage of their time in their jobs and less time on social media and the internet.

Ogbushi, who delivered the 44th Inaugural Lecture of the University, titled, “Communication Innovation Paradigm in the Digital Age: Silent Saboteurs Shaping Psychological Security in Nigeria,” which focused on the advantages and disadvantages of social media in today’s technological age, said regulating the sector had become imperative because of its negative effects which includes phone addiction, internet fraud, cyber bullying, fake news, and invasion of privacy.

Ogbushi said, “I want to teach about the reality facing us today, that social media has made our society vulnerable. The vulnerability has been manifested in various forms and shapes in our present psychosocial growth as a people. We are indeed subjected to psychological and social insecurities in Nigeria, owing to the gross abuse of social media by all and sundry.

“There is no better time to raise the issue to the front burner than now. A time to take our destinies into our own hands, a time for social reorientation, a time for national rebirth, a time for social reconstruction, a time for social rehabilitation and reconciliation.

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“We cannot continue to pretend that all is well as we march into a new order and an era of technological invasion where our psychological and social infrastructures have been threatened. Our society seems to be caught in the Bermuda Triangle of social media. I see a society under siege, a society under threat, and a society that may soon become irreparable.”

Ogboshi said “silent saboteurs” are threatening the benefits of digital innovation, including internet fraudsters, misinformation, and invasion of privacy. He advised the audience to be cautious when sharing personal information on social media platforms or with unknown individuals.

Ogboshi emphasised the importance of effective communication in learning and life, appealing to the Vice Chancellor of the university to make Introduction to Mass Communication a compulsory course for all first-year students. He also encouraged his colleagues to provide students with the best lectures possible, as they are the next generation of academic doctors and professors.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, noted that the university is committed to academic excellence and moving in the right direction. He announced the sum of N1.5 million for every inaugural lecturer, from the Chairman of ESUT’s Governing Council, Chinyeaka Ohaa, and an Alumni representative, Dr. Innocent Akuvue.

Okolie also announced plans to unveil ESUT’s Pharmacy building, which is 98 per cent completed, and to make teaching and learning at the university technologically oriented.