Top management representing Social Media App TikTok have listed reasons why the popular app should not be banned in Kenya.
TikTok app’s regulator Majorel Kenya’s representatives on April 10, 2024, appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Partitions Committee to present their views on why the app should not be banned in the country.
This follows a petition filed by Bridge Connection Consulting Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ben Ndolo before the National Assembly seeking to have the popular social media app banned in the country.
According to a statement by the National Assembly, TikTok’s owner and mother company ByteDance was represented by its Public Policy and Government Relations Director Fortune Mgwili Sibanda.
The director took the committee through an extensive presentation highlighting the application’s operational policy.
He also highlighted efforts taken by the company to ensure that content on the app is safe for consumption.
TikTok Content
According to revelations made by Sibanda before the Committee, 95 percent of the content consumed on the TikTok is filtered by machine assisted programs also known as Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmed using internationally set policy standards.
Also Read: TikTok Faces Ban in US Amid Free Speech Debate
Sibanda divulged that the content is thereafter forwarded to human moderators conversant with the country’s languages and culturally accepted policies.
These policies, he further stated, are guided by the local partners who help shape what is culturally accepted in different countries.
“In the last year, we have taken down over 296,000 videos from Kenya alone. Around the globe 96.7% of harmful content is taken down before it is reported, while 77.1% of content is taken down before garnering any views,” stated the director.
He however admitted that the company was not perfect noting that it was constantly investing in ways to ensure that the one percent of content that slips through the gaps is also stopped.
Majorel Kenya is the Business Process Outsourcing firm hired by ByteDance to provide moderation services in Kenya.
The company informed the committee that it had 250 employees locally dedicated to moderating TikTok content.
Majorel’s CEO Sven De Cauter however had a tough time explaining to the Committee why pervasive and harmful content was still making it to young people’s screens.
Petition to Ban App
In their argument, the Committee Members poked holes into the company’s formula stating that it was not good enough to protect the vulnerable viewers.
Mbeere South Member of Parliament (MP) Nabert Muriuki on his part questioned TikTok’s moderation formula noting that it was not tailored to factor in the multiple dialects that are spoken in the country.
“What you are doing is simply not enough. Your AI and Moderating formula is not built to work effectively in Kenya. How is your system going to decipher content that is spoken in different dialects such as Ki-Meru? stated Muriuki.
TikTok was accused of posing a significant threat to Kenya’s cultural and religious values in the petition by Ndolo.
According to the petitioner, the popular app was blamed for promoting violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behavior.
Also Read: Kindiki Gives Way Forward on Kenya Banning Tiktok
The submissions by TikTok’s management comes after Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki appeared before the same Committee to respond to the petition.
Kindiki on TikTok Ban
Speaking on March 21, 2024, Kindiki disclosed that the government had communicated its dissatisfaction with TikTok’s adherence to Kenyan laws.
In particular, the CS noted that the government has questioned how effectively TikTok verifies its users’ ages and its measures to filter content and comply with the Data Protection Act of 2019.
Kindiki however emphasized that rushing to ban the app without considering the perspectives of its stakeholders would be premature.
He further stressed the importance of conducting a comprehensive analysis to assess the risks and benefits associated with such a drastic measure.
Both Bytedance and Majorel Kenya are expected to provide further statistical data to the Committee Members to be taken into consideration before it produces its final report.
