President William Ruto has confirmed that he will be holding talks with Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew over explicit content on the social media platform.
Speaking from Nakuru State Lodge, the Head of State noted that they will discuss on the matter that led to a motion in the parliament calling for its ban in the country.
“Like we have moderation capacities of other platforms, tomorrow morning we are having a conversation with the global CEO of TikTok so we can agree on a mechanism for moderation in their space to get rid of negative content,” he said
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According to the petitioner Bob Ndolo the Executive Officer of Bridget Connect Consultancy, the app is promoting sexual, vulgar language, and offensive behaviour which threaten to corrupt the religious and cultural values of the country.
The petition has so far drawn mixed reaction with some indicating that its ban is not a solution to the underlying issues which need to be addressed.
“The petitioner should come to seek on how to regulate the usage of the app, age group and content uploaded for a certain age to watch, outright banning would be killing careers of many young people who are earning a living through it,” said Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah
The petition has since been directed to the Public Petitions Committee by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula to file a report by October 2023.
