KBC journalist grilled by police for retweeting a post

Does retweeting amount to crime?

That is the question that a Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) journalist Judith Akolo is asking herself after she was Monday questioned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for retweeting a post.

The officers confiscated her mobile phone saying it is now subject to investigations and would be used as evidence if she is charged.

“The only thing I did was to retweet what I saw on someone’s handle. I wonder if this amounts to a crime because the original information was not mine. They asked me questions that I did not have answers to,” said Ms Akolo.

She had on December 31, 2015 retweeted a post from Patrick Safari (@moderncorps) about an advertisement of jobs within the DCI, which was made public on deadline day- December 31, 2015.

The internal notice was meant to inform Kenya Police Service (KPS) and Administration Police Service (APS) officers interested in joining the DCI to apply.

The fact that the notice was issued on December 31 and was to expire on the same day attracted her attention.

She was asked to explain how she got the police memo. In response, she explained to the officers from Central police station she was not the origin of the tweet.

Mr Safari who tweeted first on the issue told The Standard he had not been questioned.

“I know their intention is to know how the document got to the social media. They are angry with the fact that the advert was to expire on the same day and hence could lock out many interested officers,” he said.

He added police should not target bloggers and journalists for crimes they had not committed.

Ms Akolo said she was called by KBC security manager and informed some officers from Central wanted to talk to her.

“They later asked me to go with them to the station where I spent three hours responding to questions.”

The retweet was later deleted.

Ms Akolo works at the state broadcaster’s online desk. She has been commenting on various issues.

She was asked to report to the DCI offices on Thursday for further directions. Officers at the DCI said they were investigating the origin of the letter.