Kenya becomes latest country to consider curbs on TikTok over data security and privacy fears
- The government is concerned about how the platform owned by Chinese firm ByteDance is complying with the country’s data protection and privacy laws
- Kenyan officials may also be banned from using the app, which has come intense scrutiny from US politicians and has been banned in Senegal and Somalia
It’s unlikely the village had ever seen such a huge and unruly crowd of youngsters. Donning T-shirts and hoodies featuring the deceased’s name and catchphrases, the TikTok fans, or “Chira Clan” as they called themselves, left other mourners startled after they took over the programme at the funeral service.
Chira, a TikTok sensation, had died in a hit-and-run accident at the age of 23 earlier in March.
What happened at his funeral indicates the explosive uptake of TikTok in Kenya, which last year emerged as one of the world’s heaviest users of the app, according to a survey by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report.
Interior and National Administration minister Kithure Kindiki said the National Security Council is considering a ban on public officials using the app to protect sensitive data.
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Kindiki said Kenya is not satisfied with TikTok’s compliance with the country’s laws on data protection and privacy.
In particular, Kindiki said the government has “requested the owners and operators of TikTok to provide to us the levels of compliance with our laws”.
Last month, he told a parliamentary committee: “We have also asked them to explain the measures that they have taken or intend to take to ensure the privacy of individuals is respected in accordance with the laws of our country.
“At the moment, we are not satisfied that there is compliance, we are waiting for an explanation from TikTok.”
Should TikTok fail to provide the required information, “we will enforce the law through issuance of directives, orders and requirements”. Kindiki cited the example of the US cryptocurrency Worldcoin whose operations were suspended in Kenya last year for collecting biometric iris scans without authority.
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Kindiki also warned that social media platforms, including TikTok, have become “a real theatre for misuse by criminals”.
The minister was appearing before the National Assembly’s public petitions committee to provide the government’s response to a petition filed last year seeking to ban TikTok, which accused the app of helping erode cultural and religious morals.
Shortly after it was filed, Kenya’s President William Ruto held talks with TikTok’s chief executive officer Shou Zi Chew via a video link, after which the president said the company would work with the authorities to remove inappropriate or offensive content.
Chew also promised to ensure that content is moderated to fit community standards and agreed to set up a Kenyan office to coordinate its operations in the continent.
Last month, TikTok and the African Union launched a campaign on online safety.
Moses Kemibaro, the founder and chief executive of Dotsavvy, a Kenyan digital business agency, said: “Countries worldwide are grappling with how to regulate social media platforms to protect users’ privacy, ensure national security and maintain social and cultural norms, all while ensuring innovation and economic growth.”
He said Kenya’s demands that TikTok shows compliance with the country’s Data Privacy Act and its broader concerns about its role in spreading harmful content and facilitating criminal activities shows the sheer complexity of regulating global digital platforms, or “Big Tech”, within local legal frameworks.
He said the steps being taken by the Kenyan government, including potential curbs on TikTok use by public servants, indicate a deeper understanding of the risks and benefits presented by social media.
“Similar concerns have been raised by governments around the world, including recent actions in Italy and the United States, indicating a global ‘moment of truth’ with the immense influence of social media platforms like TikTok,” Kemibaro said.
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Besides Kenya, the app has been banned in Senegal and Somalia in the past year and in India since 2020.
Washington argues that TikTok could allow the Chinese government to access user data, allegations the company denies.
The Chinese foreign ministry criticised the legislation, saying “the US has never found any evidence of TikTok posing a threat to US national security” and the move “will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself”.
James Mbugua, a Nairobi-based data protection lawyer, said Kenya should be “careful not to get caught in between East vs West supremacy battles”.
Mbugua said if Kenya was to ban TikTok, “it would set a very bad precedent especially given that we have both freedom of expression and press in Kenya … and this sort of censorship could begin to erode these hard-won rights”.
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“The best practice would be to follow Europe’s lead in regulating TikTok and perhaps holding it to the same standards as the EU,” he added. “But TikTok is hardly worse than any other social media platform out there, so the approach should be to have common standards that all of them should meet.”
Nevertheless, Mbugua said social media companies need to be held more to account on their compliance with Kenya’s data protection laws, child protection and on the spread of misinformation.
A statement sent from a TikTok representative in Africa to the South China Morning Post said: “We can confirm that we have received communication from the government and are actively engaging with the relevant authorities”.
