Twitter the top hate speech platform in Kenya
The National Cohesion and integration Commission(NCIC) has raised concern over increased hate speech on social media platforms ahead of the August 9 General Election.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Registrar of Political Parties, Anne Nderitu, listed Twitter as the leading social media platform for the spread of hate speech in the country.
“In the month of June alone, through the support of UNDP, a total of 31 cases of hate speech were flagged, the cases have been linked to campaign rallies with the Jacaranda Rally contributing to the highest number of cases identified,” Ms Nderitu said.
“Twitter has been identified to be the main platform for hate speech in the period under review, with a total of 16 cases compared with seven cases identified on Facebook and five cases on Tiktok. We are concerned by the increasing number of hate speech cases on social media platforms with chaotic rallies being a trigger of incitement on social media,” she continued.
Nderitu also listed 10 counties where political tension has risen over the past weeks.
“We have established the heightened localized political tension between political party supporters in Kisumu, Nairobi, Kirinyaga, Marsabit, Meru, Isiolo, Transnzoia, Busia, Nakuru and Narok counties,” she said.
She said the commission established the tension in the said counties through an early warning mechanism, including cohesion monitors deployed in the counties.