Over the last few years, the vibrancy of social media has been evident in Kenya with increased usage of favourite sites - Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. Social media has provided a platform on which individuals express themselves and share ideas from the comforts of their homes and offices. It has bridged the gap between destinations far removed. To some extent, social media has beaten traditional media houses by conveying news instantly.
While this is a positive move that makes communication easier and affordable, a negative side has emerged that threatens to polarise the country along tribal lines. Towards the end of last year, several bloggers were taken to court on allegations of spreading hate speech. The Government has issued several warnings against the misuse of social media, but in the absence of legislation regulating social media usage, such warnings are largely ineffective except in the occasional instances where some users who run online news outlets are known to the authorities.
There are many more users of the social media who hide behind aliases while spreading hate speech, thus making it difficult to identify and arrest them. The reality is that short of closing down social media, the Government can only appeal to individual users’ common sense, amid warnings of the consciences of misuse of these media. In August last year, a report released by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) indicated that the triggers for the hatred evidenced on social media were land matters, drug abuse, unemployment, food insecurity, crime, poor infrastructure, social inequality and lack of equity in national resource allocation.
According to the chairman of the NCIC Francis Ole Kaparo, the leading culprits in propagating negativity were Government institutions. At the time, it could not escape the notice of many that the Senate and National Assembly were busy antagonising each other, while the Executive and the Judiciary were involved in a contest of wills over who had the final say on certain issues that appeared to bedevil the Government.
Speaking during the launch of the report by the NCIC, Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga, did not hesitate to apportion blame for the poor state of the nation on politicians, noting that they largely contributed by engaging in politics meant to score on ethnic hatred. Despite promises by the Government to unite Kenyans, there is very little political goodwill as leaders from both sides of the political divide, continue to incite people against each other through irresponsible utterances.
The Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology, Dr Fred Matiangi, was quoted recently cautioning Kenyans against using social media to promote hatred and ethnicity as this could easily lead the country to chaos while antagonising different communities. That is a warning that all peace-loving Kenyans must heed, but it becomes ineffectual when double standards are applied in punishing offenders.
The NCIC will not succeed in its work of bringing Kenyans together if the manner in which the commission handled the cases that were brought against former Cabinet Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and MP Moses Kuria for spreading hate speech, indicates what Kenyans should expect.
Whereas an MP takes to social media to insult and deride other communities on the basis of their culture as well as insult prominent individuals in the country, and is allowed to walk away scot-free after making a perfunctory public apology, an ordinary Kenyan is sentenced to jail for two years for the same crime, even after making a public apology and asking for leniency.
Politicians have been known to make inflammatory statements in public without the fear of arrest. How then does the Government expect ordinary Kenyans to behave differently? The law must apply uniformly across the board for it to have an impact. The three arms of Government need to harmonise their operations to preclude unhealthy competition that is often misconstrued by the public and, through social media, taken out of context.
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