Kenya's ethnic cohesion watchdog has already given Meta's Facebook seven days to tackle the hate speech and incitement on the platform about next month's election if it gets failed then its operations would be suspended.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Kenya has given Facebook seven days to tackle the hate speech and incitement
- Facebook had carried many political advertisements that broke Kenya's rules
- Meta has taken 'extensive steps' to remove hate speech and inflammatory content
East Africa's biggest economy has been in the throes of campaigning ahead of presidential, legislative and local authority elections on August, 9.
Advocacy group Global Witness has mentioned in a report which was published on Thursday that Facebook had accepted and carried over a dozen political advertisements that broke Kenya's rules.
Kenya's National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) had mentioned that the report had confirmed its own internal findings.
As per Danvas Makori an NCIC commissioner on Friday, 'Facebook was in violation of the laws of our country. However, they had permitted themselves to be a vector of hate speech and incitement, misinformation and disinformation.'
Therefore, according to a company spokesperson, Meta has taken 'extensive steps' to remove hate speech and inflammatory content, and it's gathering those efforts prior to the election. 'The spokesperson added that “We have dedicated teams of Swahili speakers and proactive detection technology to assist us in order to take away harmful content quickly and at scale.'
The NCIC has a proper communication with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), that regulates social media companies, and it would recommend the suspension of Meta's operations, Makori has notified.
He had accused Meta of violating Kenya's constitution and laws that governs the hate speech and also the use of social media platforms.
He had mentioned that 'This country has been bigger than a social media company or an entity. We would not permit Facebook or any other social media company, to exist the security.'
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 in order to join them or to accuse opposing sides of varied misdeeds.
The NCIC has been a statutory body that was established to foster ethnic harmony among Kenya's 45 tribes, a number of which have targeted one another during violence in past polls.
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