Social Media Won’t Be Blocked – Kenya Govt

Kenya government, on Saturday stated that social media would not be blocked, after a state watchdog warned Facebook it risked suspension if it did not fix hate speech on its platform.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission on Friday said it had given Facebook’s parent, Meta seven days to act following a report it allowed more than a dozen hateful political ads in the run-up to Kenya’s August 9 election.

However, Joe Mucheru, Kenya’s minister of information, communications and technology, tweeted on Saturday, “Media, including social media, will continue to enjoy press freedom in Kenya.”

He added that it was unclear what legal framework the NCIC planned to use to suspend Facebook, adding: “Govt is on record. We are NOT shutting down the Internet.”

Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i reiterated his comments by saying Kenyans’ right to free expression was stated in the constitution.