Need for ceaseless peace and cohesion campaigns through social media
The Mt Kenya Times 
By: Dennis Wendo
Worth Noting:
- The growth in mobile internet use in Kenya correlates with a rise in smartphone usage, driven by the emergence of cheaper smartphones and a relatively youthful population actively looking for information and extensively communicating online.
- The digital2021 Kenya report indicates, with the country’s population of close to 54.38 million, there were 21.75 million internet users, 11.00 million being social media users by January 2021.
- The report further indicates 59.24 million mobile connections with an increase of 5.9million (+11%) between January 2020 and January 2021. The number of mobile connections in Kenya by January 2021 was equivalent to 108.9% of the total population.
The call for national unity, peace and cohesion should be unending culture and collaborative amongst citizens. We are in a post-general election disposition, with prime competing protagonists and their believers yet to calm.
Prior and after the supreme court ruling on presidential results, there has been a flare-up of alarming misinformation, disinformation and hate speech by Kenyans on social media platforms coming from politicians, bloggers, supporters, and others who have blatantly misrepresented how they are doing, how their opponents are allegedly acting, and on the conduct of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and Judiciary during the election epoch.
Social media entities should not be conduits that appear to threaten democracy, freedom of choice, national cohesion, and other human rights. They should not be misused to promote terror-related and recruitment activities, violent extremism and radicalization.
Online influencers should desist from being sponsored to wedge unproven attacks and gender based violence against competing opponents as well as on independent institutions and personalities.
It remains evident technology, the internet and social media have fundamentally transposed the world of interaction, considerably affecting all sectors of human ventures. In essence social media services are geared towards boosting connections, interactions and building communities by enabling users to create, co-operate, modify, share and engage with each other with ease, on-time and cost effectively.
The growth in mobile internet use in Kenya correlates with a rise in smartphone usage, driven by the emergence of cheaper smartphones and a relatively youthful population actively looking for information and extensively communicating online.
The digital2021 Kenya report indicates, with the country’s population of close to 54.38 million, there were 21.75 million internet users, 11.00 million being social media users by January 2021. The report further indicates 59.24 million mobile connections with an increase of 5.9million (+11%) between January 2020 and January 2021. The number of mobile connections in Kenya by January 2021 was equivalent to 108.9% of the total population.
Of great concern is the impact and influence of social media platforms to consumers. Kenyan users spend a minimum of close to 3-4 hours a day on social media, with the most used platforms identified as Whatsapp (74%), Facebook (70%), Twitter (50%), and based on users’ own claimed activities. Other Apps frequently used include, instagram, linkedIn, myspace, skype, podcasts, weblogs, youtube, google and tik tok. The market dominance of these corporations means they control massive amounts of information, unilaterally dictating what content can be displayed and regulating online speech through opaque processes.
To inform users of the potential for misinformation and disinformation, Twitter has been in the forefront in flagging down false information sources with a disclaimer.
Online activity and freedom of expression are regulated under the Constitution and statutes. Article 33 of the 2010 Kenya Constitution, enshrines freedom of speech while banning hate speech, advocacy for hatred, vilification, incitement to violence, sponsored attacks and discrimination.
Other laws include the Penal Code, the controversial Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Act which outlaw hate speech, dissemination of false publications and incitement to violence. As we embrace technology, it remains prudent to massively and positively utilize the social media platforms to unify, foster cohesion and fight societal –ills bedeviling Kenya on routinely.
Notably the platforms make millions from subscribers in Kenya, but do not invest in content moderation as much as they do in Europe or America. As a result, there are fewer, insufficiently trained content regulators and less customized Artificial Intelligence programmes available to flag, review, and remove inappropriate content. A further risk is that reviewers and all systems designed to identify and flag inappropriate content may not understand the local languages and contexts, which leads to further harm.
It is imperative for social media companies to ensure transparency regarding the rules, tools, standards, and actions taken on their respective platforms in Kenya and Africa. There is need to set up remedial and grievance mechanisms that are legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, rights compatible and transparent. Recently, the Council for Responsible Social Media, a non-partisan group of experts, CSOs and eminent Kenyans, called upon these platforms to invest more in content moderation and to publicly commit to a transparent code of practice.
As a nation and its citizens let us recommit ourselves to reduction of political tensions and stakes as well as a zero-sum approach to political competition; embrace dialogue; understand that an election is a process; learn to accept election outcomes and be accommodative of even the losers.
Dennis Wendo
Founder- Integrated Development Network
Email: dambehi@gmail.com
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