Kenya Orders Facebook To Tackle Hate Speech

Kenya has given Meta’s Facebook seven days to tackle hate speech and incitement on the platform relating to next month’s election, failing which its operations will be suspended.

Advocacy group Global Witness said in a report published on Thursday that Facebook had accepted and carried more than a dozen political advertisements that breached Kenya’s rules.

Kenya’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) said the report corroborates its own internal findings.

East Africa’s biggest economy is campaigning ahead of presidential, legislative and local authorities elections on Aug. 9.

An NCIC commissioner Danvas Makori said that Facebook is in violation of the laws of our country. They have allowed themselves to be a vector of hate speech and incitement, misinformation and disinformation.

Makori said The NCIC has held talks with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), which regulates social media firms, and it will recommend the suspension of Meta’s operations.

He accused Meta of violating Kenya’s constitution and laws governing hate speech and the use of social media platforms.

However, a Company spokesperson told News reporters that Meta has taken “extensive steps” to weed out hate speech and inflammatory content, and it is intensifying those efforts ahead of the election.

Supporters of the leading presidential candidates, veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga and deputy president William Ruto, have used social media platforms to praise their candidates, persuade others to join them or to accuse opposing sides of various misdeeds.