Ruto to speak to TikTok CEO over explicit content

By Peter Ochieng

President William Ruto says he will speak to TikTok Chief Executive Officer (CEO) over a range of issues, including how to moderate explicit content on the popular application.

Speaking in Nakuru county on Wednesday, the Head of State said he will speak to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday, over possible moderation of explicit content on the popular Chinese video-sharing platform.

“Like we have moderation capacities of other platforms, tomorrow morning we are having a conversation with the global CEO of TikTok so we can agree on a mechanism for moderation in their space to get rid of negative content,” said Ruto.

Recently, National Assembly Speaker Moses Masika Wetang'ula recieved a petition, seeking to ban TikTok in the country.

Bob Ndolo, Bridget Connect Consultancy CEO in his petition to National Assembly argued that the explicit content in TikTok promotes violence, sex, hate speech and vulgarity which undermines the cultural and religious values of Kenyans.

Speaker Wetang'ula read sections of the petition in Parliament on Tuesday last week as such:

“The petition decries that while it has gained popularity among the youths in Kenya, 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 views of Kenya."

“The petitioner is also concerned that if the platform is not prohibited in Kenya, the Apps addictive nature will lead to a decline in academic performances and ascend in mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation among the youth," he said.

Ndolo sought intervention of the National Assembly, owing to what he termed as Communication Authority's inability to regulate, remove or block inappropriate content on the Chinese owned App.

He says the App has been banned or fined in various countries among them United States, for breach of privacy laws.

"TikTok has been implicated in several privacy scandals over the past years. For instance, in 2019, the app was fined $5.7 million by the USA Federal Trade Commission for illegally collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 by collecting data such as names, email addresses, and locations from young users without their parents consent thus violating Children's Online Privacy Protection Act."

However, a section of legislatures who spoke to the issue among them majority leader in the national assembly Kimani Inchung'wah and his minority counterpart Opiyo Wandayi, seemingly pointed to the fact that banning the app may not be an easy undertaking.

Speaker Wetang'ula directed the National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee, to consider the petition and report its findings.