The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is preparing to launch a formal inquiry into the allegations of online child sexual exploitation on TikTok.
In a report published on March 3, 2025, the BBC alleged that TikTok is generating revenue from sexual livestreams featuring Kenyan teenagers as young as 15 years old.
BBC claims to have interviewed three women in Kenya who revealed they started engaging in this activity as teenagers. They reportedly used TikTok to openly promote and arrange payment for more explicit content, which was then shared through other messaging platforms.
TikTok retains approximately 70% of the revenue generated from these livestreams.
“These allegations raise serious issues regarding the exploitation of vulnerable individuals, including children, and the adequacy of content moderation on digital platforms operating within Kenya,” states the Communications Authority.
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Kenya’s ICT regulator, mandated to regulate the communications sector, has confirmed that it is collaborating closely with the relevant government agencies to investigate whether any legal breaches have taken place.
Explicit content, particularly that which exploits minors, violates several Kenyan laws. TikTok may have breached the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018, the Films and Stage Plays Act (Cap 222), and the Data Protection Act (Cap 411C).
CA has emphasized that it will not hesitate to enforce sanctions if required. In the interim, CA demands that TikTok take immediate action to remove all sexual content involving minors from its platform, including livestreams.
Additionally, TikTok is required to provide a detailed explanation of how such offensive content manages to bypass its content moderation systems.
The platform must also submit a comprehensive plan outlining steps to enhance its moderation mechanisms, strengthen child protection measures, and prevent the exploitation of minors.
TikTok must demonstrate its compliance with both Kenyan and international laws regarding the safeguarding of minors on its platform.
TikTok’s Past Legal Troubles in Kenya
It is not the first time the social media platform has been in trouble in Kenya. In 2023, the Kenyan government instructed TikTok to tackle its evident content moderation issues and was mandated to set up a local office and to issue a quarterly compliance report.
The app removed 360,000 as per its own Q2 2024 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report.
However, these latest allegations indicate that substantial gaps persist in the platform’s enforcement of its policies aimed at preventing solicitation and exploitation.
