TikTok faces ban in Kenya if petition filed in parliament go through

NAIROBI, Kenya - Bob Ndolo, an executive officer of the Briget Connect Consultancy has petitioned Kenya’s parliament to ban TikTok in Kenya.

Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula says the petition cites explicit content and lack of privacy among others.

“The content that is being shared on the platform is inappropriate thus promoting violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behavior which is a serious threat to the cultural and religious values of Kenya,”
Wetangula said, quoting the petition.

The petitioner, Wetangula, avers that in Kenya, the internet application is not regulated by the Communications. The Authority of Kenya led the failure to remove or block content that is offensive.

The Chinese-based social media app that is popular among the GenZs has faced challenges, particularly in the US where it is
accused of being a surveillance tool.

In Kenya, the petitioner claims that the social media app collects data from people and shares it with third parties without their consent thus violating their rights.

“The platform has shared information about its users with the third-party company without users’ consent,” the petitioner
states in what has rattled social media users.

TikTok snowballed to become the most popular app in 2019 and 2020 when it recorded close to 700 million downloads and has remained on an increasing trajectory since.

Mr Ndolo a technology consultant, said many Kenyan youths have been addicted to the platform, leading to a decline in academic
performance, depression, anxiety, and mental health problems.

“The petitioner wants the house to intervene and take immediate action and safeguard Kenyans from TikTok's negative effects,”
Wetangula told the members of parliament on Tuesday.

A debate followed thereafter, with a few of the lawmakers supporting the petition, while a majority expressed their reservations about imposing a ban on TikTok.

GAROWE ONLINE