In a bid to mitigate the proliferation of unfavourable content on the popular video-sharing platform, President William Ruto has revealed plans to hold a meeting with TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shou Zi Chew. The meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow, on Thursday, August 24th.
The announcement was made by President Ruto on Wednesday during the Kenya Music Festival Winner’s State Concert held in Nakuru.
GOVIMA reported that the Kenyan government wants to ban TikTok because of cultural reasons
The issue of TikTok’s content management has attracted significant attention, including within the National Assembly.
One of the Assembly members, Bob Ndolo, submitted a motion advocating for the prohibition of the platform due to concerns about inappropriate content. This has prompted discussions surrounding the necessity of implementing effective mechanisms for content moderation on TikTok.
President Ruto’s forthcoming meeting with TikTok’s CEO signifies a proactive step toward addressing these concerns and fostering a safer online environment.
The discussions are expected to center around strategies and measures that can be implemented to curb the spread of negative content on the platform. The outcome of this engagement could potentially shape the future landscape of content creation and consumption on TikTok within the Kenyan context.
“Tomorrow morning, I will be speaking to the Global CEO of TikTok so that we can agree on a mechanism to moderate content in their space in order to reduce the negative content and leverage on the monetisation that is benefiting a lot more people,” said the president.
“While it has gained popularity among the youth, the content being shared on the platform is inappropriate promoting violence, explicit sexual content, violence, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behaviour which is a serious threat to the cultural and religious values in Kenya,” Ndolo stated in his petition.
However, others were opposed to the ban saying that the app still serves as a source of income to numerous youths.
“These platforms provide avenues for our youths to get employment, especially for those who are able to create content,” said Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi.
A majority supported the idea of regulating the content produced on the app rather than banning it altogether.
During the concert that took place in Nakuru, the Head of State said that the X app had agreed to monetize Kenyan content, making Kenya one of the few countries in Africa.
Ruto also added that from August, Facebook will be testing and exploring the field of monetizing content alongside 25 Kenyan content creators.
