Video-sharing platform TikTok has now been mandated to start publishing reports every quarter following a new mandate by the Ministry of ICT. This new rule comes at a time when the platform has been facing scrutiny from the Kenyan government which is seeking to regulate the site after accusations of promoting explicit content.
As reported by Business Daily, the country’s ICT Ministry presented this new directive to the Parliament as part of a plan to deal with the negative incidents linked to the Chinese video-hosting service. According to the ministry, this would be a more reasonable response to the matter rather than banning TikTok from the country altogether.
Speaking to the legislators on Tuesday, ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui stated, “To necessitate easy community reporting, TikTok is required to share quarterly compliance reports with the ministry, clearly showing content taken down and reasons for the same. I urge that we choose regulation instead of a complete ban, and seek your support towards the proposed regulations.”
According to Mr Tanui, banning the platform would do more harm than good as millions of Kenyan youth and entrepreneurs are now dependent on TikTok as a source of income through content creation and business advertisement.
The platform currently stands as the third most popular social media platform in Kenya after Facebook and YouTube, boasting about 10.6 million users aged 18 and above who hold an account.
TikTok, on the other hand, has been trying to assure the government and its Kenyan users about its full commitment to upholding safety for its users.
Speaking to Parliament, Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, director of government and public policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, stated that the platform’s user policies and tools are developed to promote a positive and safe environment for its community.
This commitment will have to be assured even more over the next few years as the platform begins to publish its safety compliance reports to its regulators.
As TikTok gets more popular in Kenya and across the globe, it’s clear that it will face more scrutiny as it already has been from not just this country but also other international regions. Countries like India, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand and the UK have already banned the app from government devices.
