Ruto calls for moderation of TikTok content
President Ruto says he will explore ways to moderate content shared on TikTok.
The Head of State, speaking at the Kenya Music Festival 2023 in Nakuru, confirmed he had arranged a meeting with the social media platform’s Chief Executive Zi Chew in Nairobi on August 24, 2023.
“I will be speaking to the Tik Tok CEO tomorrow about moderating and reducing negative content on the platform,” Ruto said.
“I know we have heard about the challenges that are in that space. And like we have content moderation in platforms such as Youtube and Twitter, tomorrow morning we will have the same conversation with the globac CEO of TikTok,” he added.
The President’s comments come days after a petitioner asked Parliament to ban the use of popular application, arguing it is a contributor to erosion of cultural and religious morals in the society.
Ben Ndolo, the Executive Officer of Bridget Connect Consultancy in his petition to the National Assembly, called on MPs to move with speed and ban the use of TikTok in the country as it was exposing young people to explicit sexual content.
The petitioner, in a petition received by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, added that children are vulnerable to sexual content on the application.
He noted that the platform is very popular among the youth but the content shared therein was inappropriate thus promoting violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behaviours which is a serious threat to cultural and religious values.
The petition is set to be considered by Parliament and a verdict announced within 60 days.
The President meanwhile, has opened up on the possibility of monetizing content shared on TikTok.
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