Kenya’s parliament is considering a petition that aims to ban TikTok in the country.
Details
The petition accuses the video streaming platform of promoting violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behavior and says it’s “a serious threat to the cultural and religious values of Kenya.”
Digging Deeper
On April 16, Kenya’s technology cabinet secretary in a committee hearing of the petition that the government preferred to enhance the regulation of TikTok, as opposed to a full-on ban.
Pushing Back
TikTok’s head of public policy for sub-Saharan Africa, Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, has been urging the committee to dismiss the petition, highlighting TikTok’s investment in a mix of human and AI-led content moderation and its efforts to work with policymakers and regulators.
Mgwili-Sibanda said a ban would be “tantamount to silencing citizens and denying them of their Constitutional rights.”
Zoom Out
TikTok said they have taken down more than 296,000 inappropriate videos from Kenya in 2023.
Use of AI for Moderation
Kenya MPs have raised concerns that TikTok’s AI moderation tools used by TikTok may not be able to decipher local languages and contexts, allowing dangerous or harmful videos to find their way into timelines.
Source: Semafor
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