ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo, accompanied by Principal Secretary John Tanui and senior officials from relevant government agencies, have given the way forward regarding the petition to ban TikTok in Kenya. The CS stated that instead of a complete ban, regulatory measures would be introduced to oversee TikTok.
He went ahead to emphasize the platform’s importance for individuals who rely on it for income and assured that new regulations would be implemented to ensure responsible use. According him, banning would suffer a blow to the technological advancement recorded in the country.
“A balance must be struck between addressing the legitimate concerns brought about by this petition and upholding citizens’ rights to express themselves. TikTok serves as a diverse platform for expression, encompassing creativity, political commentary, and cultural representation,” he stated.
The call to ban TikTok in Kenya emerged after a petition was lodged by Ben Ndolo, CEO of Bridge Connection Consulting Group, to the National Assembly. Ndolo alleged that the platform posed a substantial risk to the nation’s cultural and religious principles, attributing it to the promotion of violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, profanity, and offensive conduct.
CS Owalo informed the Committee that his Ministry was contemplating introducing proposed amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill 2023. This announcement comes a week after representatives from TikTok’s regulator, Majorel Kenya, addressed the Committee regarding concerns raised in a petition.
During their presentation, Majorel Kenya highlighted reasons why banning the TikTok app in Kenya should be avoided. They also disclosed that they had removed more than 296,000 videos within the country.
“In the last year, we have taken down over 296,000 videos from Kenya alone. Around the globe 96.7% of harmful content is taken down before it is reported, while 77.1% of content is taken down before garnering any views,” stated Byte Dance Public Policy and Government Relations Director Fortune Mgwili Sibanda.
