By Kenfrey Kiberenge
Experts are raising the alarm over an increasing misuse of social media by young people to fan hate speech ahead of the General Election.
The countryâs young generation has of late lost the enviable tag of "least tribal grouping" with advent of the social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.
Innumerable youth have been reduced to posting âstatusâ and âtweetsâ with tribal intonations, as well as spreading propaganda against politicians and tribes they dislike.
Several blogs with tribal domain names and content are also sprouting up daily. The interactive nature of these sites allows users and their âfriendsâ to comment or reply, which is also teeming with tribal undercurrents.
Should you post an opposing view, the comment is deleted promptly or the rest on the âthreadâ rile at the one posting.
But as Kenyan youth use the Internet to spread hate speech, in Egypt, 30-year-old Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who started the Egyptian revolution, made the coveted list of 100 "most influential people in the world" by The Time magazine.
Analysts argue that this new trend could have a greater impact on the 2012 General Election than the traditional way where politicians fan hate speech on podiums, since media houses largely censor explicit content.
National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) chairman, Mzalendo Kibunjia, warns the youth to be careful on what they post in the cyberspace.
"I call upon the youth to watch carefully what they write on Facebook as many may soon find themselves in trouble for spreading hate speech," Dr Kibunjia said.
Sociologist John Njoka says the impact of hate speech on social media will be higher than the traditional media because the population using it is bigger, younger and easily excitable.
"People using these media are more revolutionary," said Njoka.
