CS Kithure Kindiki: TikTok is being used to spread propaganda for war

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki on Thursday, March 21, 2024, said social media platform TikTok is being used to spread propaganda for war and terror ideologies.

While appearing before the Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly, the CS added that groups such as Al-Shabaab are using the platform to advance their terrorism agenda.

“TikTok and other social media platforms are increasingly being used to spread malicious content which is illegal, unlawful violation of fundamental rights and freedoms.

“TikTok and other social media generate propaganda including propaganda for war. Terrorist groups including Al-Shabaab and others are using social media platforms including TikTok to generate propaganda for war and ideology for terror…” said the CS.

He added that ‘concocted’ terrorist activities are at times posted on the platform to spread fear among communities.

TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create, share and discover short-form videos.

Originating in China under the name Douyin, it is the brainchild of ByteDance, a Beijing-based technology company.

In Kenya, it is one of the most used social media platforms and has gained popularity over the years, especially among the youth.

A recent report from the Reuters Institute showed that 54 per cent of Kenyans are already on the platform and use it for various purposes including content creation and news consumption.

Content creators have also leveraged the popularity of the platform to push various brands due to its simplistic nature and user-friendly interface.

In late 2023, President William Ruto had a virtual meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to discuss how content on the platform can be monetized to benefit Kenyans as well as cleansing the content in the app.

After the meeting, the Head of State said inappropriate content would be expunged from the platform.

Despite all the benefits TikTok has, according to CS Kindiki, the disadvantages are beginning to outweigh the advantages hence the need to monitor how it is used.

“Today’s cyberspace is the theatre of risk, and therefore going forward we should invest in internal security and defence arrangements that will create a fourth defence tier…we need both the military and internal security expertise and technology people to be the fourth arm of our defence to secure our cyberspace,” he said.

The CS also received questions from the committee members including if there was a policy against public officers using the app for personal reasons or on government gadgets considering the cyber security risk TikTok is posing.

To which he responded: “What we're doing right now is a procedural requirement by law. Whatever the measures the government will take is administrative action and there's a procedure including listening to those affected. The potential of that space to hurt our security is big but also the potential and the irreversibility of cyberspace and its contribution to our development going forward is undeniable.”

CS Kindiki said the government has already expressed its concerns to TikTok in a bid to safeguard its citizens.