ICT CS Joe Mucheru Dismisses NCIC Threats to Suspend Facebook in Kenya

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has played down threats by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to suspend Facebook for failing to adhere to hate speech prevention guidelines ahead of the August 9th general elections. 

On Thursday, the NCIC gave the American social media giant seven days to implement the regulations suggested by the commission, failure to which the platform would be suspended.

NCIC accused Facebook of contravening the Constitution, NCIC Act, and the Communication Act of Kenya, citing a recent report by an international non-governmental organization (NGO) Global Witness which revealed that the social media giant has failed to detect and regulate hate speech content in the country ahead of the upcoming elections.

"We have written to Facebook and requested that they comply with the regulatory requirements we put across. If Facebook fails to do that, we will recommend that Facebook services be suspended in Kenya. Facebook has seven days to reply to us, failure to which we take the action of suspension immediately," said NCIC Commissioner Danvas Makori.

"We are a Government agency. We have been trying to push peace messages on Facebook but Facebook has been suppressing them. We have been unable to fight hate speech online because Facebook has refused to allow us to publish these messages.”

But through Twitter on Saturday, CS Mucheru questioned how NCIC intends to suspend Facebook without the government's approval, insisting that the media, including social media platforms, will continue to operate freely in Kenya without government restriction or censorship.

"Media, including social media, will continue to enjoy press freedom in Kenya. Not clear what legal framework NCIC plans to use to suspend Facebook. Govt is on record. We are not shutting down the Internet," Mucheru stated.