Starting tomorrow, Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has called for three days of anti-government protests.
This latest round of protests follows two previous sets of protests this year over the high cost of living and increased taxation from the government.
As Kenyans brace themselves for the protests, social media platforms in the country have been awashed with lots of hateful content. Incitement to violence posts have been spotted being shared widely across different platforms including Twitter, TikTok and even Facebook, something which has caught the attention of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
‘’The attention of the DCI has been drawn to misinformation and incitement to violence through the abuse of social media platforms, under the veil of freedom of expression. ‘’ DCI said
‘’Regrettably, this has caused fear and panic among peace-loving Kenyans.’’
As much as Kenyans enjoy the freedom of expression, DCI says ‘’its enjoyment should not be used as a tool to promote and justify mayhem and lawlessness.’’
DCI added that online incitement to violence falls out of the spectrum of constitutional protection and is criminal as per Sections 22 and 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018. The Act among other things criminalises fake news as well as the publication of false information.
The opposition protests are expected to run until Friday despite the government declaring them illegal. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said that security agencies have been deployed to avert violent protests.
“National security agencies have deployed all the available resources to ensure that the scenes witnessed on Wednesday do not happen again. Anyone planning to unleash violence on Kenyans is hereby warned to cease and desist,” he said.
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