Pet*tioner asks Parliament to ban TikTok videos
A petition has been tabled in parliament seeking to ban Tik Tok in the country.
The petitioner, Bob Ndolo, has asked Parliament to take immediate actions to safeguard Kenyans from the negative effects arising from use of the platform.
He avers that in Kenya, the Internet application is not regulated by the Communications Authority of Kenya, leading to failure to remove or block content deemed to be inappropriate or offensive.
According to him, while Tiktok has gained popularity among the youth in Kenya, the content being shared on the platform is inappropriate and promote violence, explicit sexual content, hate speech, vulgar language and offensive behaviour which is a serious threat to the cultural and religious values of Kenyans.
The petitioner further avers that TikTok has been implicated in several privacy scandals over the past years. For instance, in 2019, the app was fined $5.7 million by the USA Federal Trade Commission for illegally collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 by collecting data such as names, email addresses, and locations from young users without their parents’ consent thus violating Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
“The petitioner alleges that TikTok collects a significant amount of data on its users including information about their device, location and browsing history and sharing with third-party companies without users’ consent,” stated Speaker Moses Wetangúla while presenting the petition.
Members however opposed the petition saying that world had come digital and that the country could not run away from the social media culture which is sweeping the world.
Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah called for the regulation of Tik Tok as opposed to banning saying the forum was becoming popular among the youths who had gone to the extent of commercializing it.
“Many of us, including myself are on TikTok, unashamedly and there’s nothing criminal or evil being on TikTok.
“I’m also on Snapchat and all these apps are my teenage daughters who have downloaded them on my phone and shown me how to use them,” said Ichung’wa.
He said outright banning will also be killing careers saying he has been to some establishment in Lavington where youths are established a digital village.
“In fact, around the country it’s part of government efforts to establish studios where young men and women back in our villages can have studios where they can create for use on TikTok, Whatsapp, and all these apps,” Ichung’wah said.
Leader of minority Opiyo Wandayi said, “I’m of the very strong view that in this digital age, we cannot as a country afford to live in isolation. Therefore, it will be foolhardy even to contemplate not only TikTok but any other app.”
