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What do Elsa Majimbo, Bridget Achieng, and Azziad Nasenya have in frequent? They’re all Kenyan celebrities who rose to fame due to TikTok, the favored video-sharing app that has taken the world by storm. However whereas TikTok has introduced leisure and revenue to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans, it has additionally sparked controversy and criticism from some quarters. Final Wednesday, the sixteenth, Bob Ndolo, the Government Officer of Bridget Join Consultancy, filed a petition in parliament calling for a ban on TikTok in Kenya, citing its unfavorable influence on the nation’s cultural and spiritual values.
Ndolo submitted his petition to the Nationwide Meeting urging legislators to contemplate measures towards the platform’s potential erosion of societal values. He claimed that TikTok exposes the youth to express sexual content material that’s opposite to the nation’s ethical and spiritual norms. He additionally argued that TikTok promotes violent imagery, hate speech, offensive language, and inappropriate behaviour that might incite unrest and battle within the nation. Ndolo cited a number of examples of movies that he deemed dangerous or offensive, comparable to those who present nudity, sexual acts, drug use, homosexuality, blasphemy, or insults to nationwide symbols or leaders. There have been additionally raised considerations in regards to the privateness and safety of minors who use TikTok, claiming that the platform collects their information with out their consent or data. In the long run, the Communications Authority of Kenya, the state company accountable for overseeing the telecommunications sector, criticized the dearth of efficient web content material regulation and demanded to take motion to guard the general public curiosity and welfare.
What are the implications of such a transfer?
In accordance with a report by Reuters Institute, Kenya is the main nation in TikTok utilization, with a exceptional 54% of Kenyans using it for numerous functions. The app has enabled over 100,000 Kenyan creators to earn cash from their movies and has supported over 1,000 small and medium enterprises within the nation. Kenya is without doubt one of the main nations in Africa when it comes to web penetration, cellular cash, and e-commerce. A ban on TikTok might influence the digital financial system and innovation in Kenya. It might additionally restrict their entry to numerous and artistic content material, in addition to cut back their alternatives to be taught new abilities and categorical themselves on-line.
In 2020, Nigeria skilled a wave of protests towards police brutality, often known as the #EndSARS protests. The protests had been largely organized and coordinated on social media, particularly Twitter. It was a watershed second in Nigerian historical past. It confirmed the ability of social media to mobilize folks and problem the federal government. Shortly after, the Nigerian authorities suspended using Twitter within the nation, citing safety considerations. However many individuals believed that the ban was an try to silence dissent.
The Twitter ban which lasted for about 7 months was met with widespread criticism, each inside Nigeria and internationally. Most significantly, it had opposed results on the financial system. In accordance with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Trade, the seven-month shutdown of Twitter value the Nigerian financial system $26.1bn (N10.72 trillion). The ban was finally lifted after Twitter agreed to satisfy a few of the authorities’s calls for, comparable to paying an relevant tax and establishing a authorized entity inside Nigeria, however the incident highlighted the rising tensions between African governments and social media platforms.
The talk over TikTok in Kenya is harking back to the controversy surrounding Twitter in Nigeria in 2020. Each circumstances contain governments making an attempt to manage or censor social media platforms which are seen as a risk to their authority. In July 2023, a Mozilla Basis fellow recognized 130 movies on TikTok that include hate speech and disinformation about Kenya’s upcoming elections. The video had been seen over 4 million instances and shared by 33 TikTok accounts. In a single case, a collection of movies that featured a lady who claimed to be a prophetess, predicting the dying of a number of outstanding politicians in Kenya. The movies had been extensively shared and commented on by TikTok customers, a few of whom expressed assist for the girl’s prophecies and wished for the demise of the politicians. The movies had been seen as a risk to the nationwide safety and stability of Kenya, particularly because the nation was getting ready for the final elections in 2024.
However, that is past TikTok and Africa making an attempt to censor content material. As social media turns into extra fashionable and influential, we are going to possible see extra circumstances of this sooner or later. There are considerations in regards to the potential for third events to misuse consumer data. This data may very well be used for industrial functions, comparable to focused promoting, or extra nefarious functions, comparable to interfering with elections or conducting state surveillance. Even when customers freely present data, it may be used for malicious functions if it falls into the unsuitable palms. Some US states and companies are starting to take motion particularly in the case of information safety. For instance, New York Metropolis turned the most recent within the US to ban TikTok on authorities units. Montana additionally banned TikTok for all customers inside the state earlier this month.
Whereas some Kenyan lawmakers have expressed assist for the Tik-Tok petition, others have dismissed the petition as baseless, saying that it violates the liberty of expression and data assured by the Structure. They’ve argued that TikTok is a innocent and artistic outlet for the youth and that banning it could be counterproductive and oppressive. Regardless, these speculations and assumptions might not replicate the precise outcomes if such a ban is applied. The choice to ban or regulate TikTok in Kenya must be based mostly on cautious evaluation and session with all stakeholders, together with the customers, creators, companies, regulators, and policymakers.
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