Kenya: No plans to suspend Facebook by the government, says CS Mucheru
Report by the Global Witness “an advocacy group, and Foxglore- a non-profit organization outlined that Facebook has been unable to detect hate speech weeks before the Kenyan elections.”
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Earlier on July 29th, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission announced that it gave Facebook a 7 day ultimatum notice to comply with hate speech prevention guidelines or have its use suspended in the country. NCIC’s warning to the big tech company came after a report by the Global Witness “an advocacy group, and Foxglore- a non-profit organization outlined that Facebook has been unable to detect hate speech weeks before the Kenyan elections.”
They have allowed themselves to be a vector of hate speech and incitement, misinformation, and disinformation,” David Makori , NCIC commissioner, made a statement implying that the Meta owned company contravened the country’s laws.
Later, on July 30, 2022, ICT CS Joe Mucheru gave a counterargument to NCIC's ultimatum in a tweet, stating, "Media, including social media, will continue to enjoy PRESS FREEDOM in Kenya." It is unclear what legal framework NCIC intends to use to suspend Facebook. "The government has stated unequivocally, 'We are NOT shutting down the Internet.'"
Around the same time, Meta publicly shared on work done by its subsidiary company Facebook in ensuring safe elections. This generally includes scraping harmful content, protecting political activists and regulating misinformation.
