TikTok is responsible for the widespread of misinformation ahead of the Kenya general election in August 9, 2022; report says

A new report by Odanga Madung reveals that the disinformation being spread on TikTok is causing political tensions in Kenya.

Madung, who is a fellow of The Mozilla Foundation, a nonpartisan charitable organization that fights against misinformation and lack of transparency in online political and election-related messaging, claims the short video platform has moved from a “Dance App” to a “Political Mercenary”.

According to him, more than ten dozens of the most-viewed videos on TikTok were found to include hate speech, incitement, and political disinformation. This violated TikTok’s policy on hate speech and the posting of discriminatory, offensive, and false content.

Madung reported TikTok to be one of the most popular social networks in East Africa, where Kenya is located. Also his research claimed that these “130 videos” came from 33 accounts which have been viewed collectively over 4 million times. It makes sense, therefore, to question TikTok why the videos were not removed from the platform since they breached its guidelines and policies.

Madung’s interviews with several TikTok content moderators claimed they may have been unfamiliar with the political backdrop in the country, which may have contributed to the propagation of disinformation on the platform.

Madung’s research covered content that had “popular political hashtags, names of political candidates, key locations, political parties, and ethnic communities” earlier this year. His report claims the videos included coded language and derogatory terms (like madoadoa), which are flagged as hate speech in the country and banned by Kenyan National Cohesion and Integration Commission, the body that is mandated to reduce inter-ethnic conflict.

“Kenya’s democracy carries a tainted past of post-election violence. Now, political disinformation on TikTok – in violation of the platform’s own policies – is stirring up this highly volatile political landscape. Meanwhile, TikTok has shown it is incapable of addressing this problem,” he stated.

Madung’s investigation also found that some of the videos had more views than those posted by the accounts reviewed, which suggested that TikTok’s algorithmic must have amplified those content.

“Many of the videos are getting outsized viewership in comparison to their followership and according to researchers, this suggests that the content may be gaining amplification from TikTok’s For You Page algorithm.”

Social media sites such as Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook have previously been criticised for fostering disinformation and propaganda and negatively influencing elections.

Madung believes it is easy for TikTok’s younger audience to be swayed by the content they see on the app.

“TikTok’s demographic is much younger and it worries me because they don’t have the levels of political maturity or a clear value base that may allow them to sift through such information,” Irungu Houghton, the executive director at Amnesty international, was quoted as saying in the Mozilla report.