How does the spread of misinformation on Social Media undermine democracy and the role of the youth in political processes in Kenya?

The late 20th century was marked by a shift from the traditional industry inaugurated by the Industrial Revolution to the Information Age that has morphed over the years, adopting new titles in the process such as the Computer Age, Digital Age, and the New Media Age. Consequently, the mode of operation of most systems and structures in all fields have had to rapidly conform to accommodate the changes of this new age. For instance, the face of marketing has evolved from door to door marketing, to television advertisement, to present-day digital marketing through social media.

Predictably, democratic processes are among those direly affected by the digital age subsequently paving way for E-democracy or Internet Democracy. The terms denote the incorporation of new-age devices i.e. information, communication, and technology into political and governance processes.

Internet democracy has expanded the capacity of traditional democracy by setting up more spaces for the dissemination of information and deliberation on the same. In turn, the political debate has been broadened hence fostering more legitimate political decisions. Additionally, the social media spaces have boosted participation in electoral processes, especially among the youth, the majority of social media users, who were formerly largely politically apathetic.

The media is yet another field severely impacted by the Digital Age. At a time when every person with a telecommunication device with an internet connection has the ability to circulate news items in real-time, the role of mainstream media continues to be compromised. Street journalism, where average citizens actively participate in collecting, reporting, analyzing, and spreading news and information, is one of the emerging forms of journalism.

Rapid reporting, interminable interactivity, and ubiquitous multimedia content sharing have occasioned an infodemic i.e. an epidemic of information where facts, rumors, and fears mix and disperse hence making it difficult to decipher the truth or gather enough information about a particular issue. Infodemic during campaigning and election period in many countries in the world, especially the spread of misinformation through the various social media platforms, now used as a robust campaigning tool, is a hotly discussed topic.

On the basis of the above considerations, this article explores the murky waters of the electoral processes in Kenya in light of the use of social media as a campaigning tool in the age of info emic and specifically the mushrooming of misinformation during the electioneering period, with a specific focus on the 2013 and 2017 elections. It focuses on the impact that the spread of ‘fake news’ through the major social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp in Kenya has had on the youth and examines how their participation in electoral processes has been affected throughout the election cycle.

Social Media Use in Kenya

Social media is an unexpected giant that has now taken over all aspects of life. Businesses, churches, schools, restaurants, hotels, just to name a few, are now able to operate almost fully on social media. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the capacity of social media platforms all the more after all physical face-to-face activities globally were cut short temporarily due to the social-distancing requirements.

Social media are the interactive technologies that capacitate the creation and sharing of media and information by individuals. Platforms for such interaction constitute SMS-based messaging platforms (WhatsApp, FB-Messenger), Social Networking sites (Instagram, LinkedIn), Blogging Platforms (Wordpress, Blogger), Microblogs (Twitter, Tumlr) among others. 

Internet in Kenya was set in motion in the early 1990’s and has grown rapidly over the years. A research done by USIU-Africa on Social Media Use in Kenya suggests that Kenya is among the top three countries in Africa in terms of internets access, the other two being Nigeria and Egypt. Further, in 2018, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) reported 42.2 million internet subscriptions in the country where urban internet users accessed the internet through mobile phones whereas their rural counterparts through cyber cafes.

The snowballing number of internet users in the country has created an enabling environment for the escalated growth of networking through various social media platforms countrywide. The popularity of these platforms in Kenya is attributed to their interactivity, convenience, affordability, accessibility and the availability of a ready audience. The most widely used digital networking networks in Kenya are WhatsApp and Facebook as illustrated below.

The number of social media users in Kenya has steadily continued to rise over the years and by January 2020, there figure stood at 8.80 million users. This represented an increase of 13% between April 2019 and January 2020 according to statistics by Datareportal. 

Research further reveals that social media use in Kenya varies according to the age of the users. The median age of Kenyans is currently 20.1, meaning that the bulk of the population is youthful. The implication of this demographic translates into social media usage in the country where the youth are leading producers and consumers in that space. A survey conducted by Geopoll in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria and Uganda found that the preferred source of information among young people is social media as opposed to radio, newspaper and television.

A report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), indicated that most Kenyans between the ages of 21-35 years spend three hours of their day on social media. It is therefore a fair assumption that the youthful population in Kenya rely on social media for most of their entertainment and information. Young people rarely tune into prime time news as they consider it already ‘stale’ given that news and information on social media runs real-time hence by the time it is aired on , most of them have gotten wind of them. 

From the above figure, it is noteworthy that the social media platform preference also varies with age i.e. Instagram is the most preferred among those between the ages of 21-25 while Snapchat is the most preferred among teenagers.

Social Media and the Rise of Misinformation during Electioneering Period in Kenya

Fake news has recently become an international media sensation since the controversial election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States in 2016. The election is allegedly said to have been won through the leveraging of digital media to advance fake news about the opponent, Hillary Clinton. Nonetheless, the direct connection between the fake news and the number of votes is difficult to verify. The phenomenon of fake news however not a new. It connotes untrue information that is either passed around and ends up misleading the masses. Fake news takes two forms. One is misinformation where false information is spread unknowingly; and two is disinformation where an individual intentionally disseminates untrue information for malicious purposes.

Throughout history, a version of fake news existed even within mainstream journalism such as yellow journalism which produced barely researched news items with catchy phrases to attract audiences and tabloid journalism characterized by rumours predominantly about celebrities. The legal tort of defamation that has been in existence since time immemorial is rooted in the notion of fake news. In Kenya, fake news during the electioneering period has been manifested in other ways besides the use of social media.

For instance, a woman called in a radio station in 2013 urging women to register as voters claiming that in the 2007 elections rumours spread in her village that the biometric voter registration kits used by the electoral commission were in fact materials for conducting secret birth control experiments causing many females to remain unregistered. It is highly likely that the rumour was spread by the opposing team to reduce the number of registered voters in his/her opponent’s stronghold.

Fake News in Mainstream Media in Kenya

Additionally, mainstream media has also been a victim of disinformation peddling during Kenyan elections. In April 2017, the residents of Busia County in Western Kenya woke up to a pinch of fake news on the morning of the party nominations. The voters found pamphlets resembling the cover of the Daily Nation, the largest circulating newspaper in the country, claiming that the area’s gubernatorial candidate of choice had defected to the rival party, Jubilee.

A similar instance occurred where it was falsely reported that one of the principle members of the opposition party National Supper Alliance had decamped to the ruling party, Jubilee. The use of orthodox newspapers to peddle fake news heightens the credibility of these news items hence their rampant use during elections. The unsuspecting public easily consumes such content as the real information as it is difficult to decipher the truth, given the unpredictable nature of politics during the electioneering period as candidates occasionally move camp.

Fake copies of the Daily Nation and a poster claiming the defection to Jubilee Party

Two different covers of the Daily Nation on June 22nd, 2017

The rise in the number of social media users in Kenya revolutionized the political processes in Kenya especially during the campaigning period. The emergence of a space that enabled direct engagement with the electorate introduced a whole new ball game to the already characteristically heated elections in Kenya. In addition, the significance of the youthful vote become apparent due to the increase of the youth bulge over the years and social media had become the new public square for the youth.

Political candidates had no choice but to launch digital campaigns in an attempt to reach the population that essentially decided the vote.  The 2013 and 2017 general elections in the country found the country deep in the digital age and the influence it had on the elections with regards to the sharing of digital propaganda cannot be gainsaid. The main social media platforms hosting political discourses in Kenya are Twitter and Facebook, followed closely by WhatsApp. 

Digital Propaganda on Social Media in Kenya

The craze for social media as a modern campaign tool spawned a rat race to establish the best e-campaigning model among political candidates in 2013 and 2017. Case in point is the contentious issue of the government in 2017 allegedly hiring Cambridge Analytica, a company linked to the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote through the use of personal data, to influence his vote during the national elections. The scramble for online presence by opposing sides of the political divides in Kenya fueled the already competitive and tense environments. Increased online activity by the campaign teams coupled with active citizen journalists readily consuming and engaging political content created the ideal breeding ground for the explosion of fake news during the 2017 electioneering period; the pre-electoral, electoral and post-electoral processes. 

The scramble for digital campaigning went even further to the extent that the Jubilee party in 2017 registered fake news websites such as ‘The Real Raila’ social media page to paint a bad picture on the ruler of the opposition, Raila Odinga, and another one known as ‘Uhuru for Us’ to glorify the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta as the saving grace for Kenya. The two camps were the main political actors during the 2017 polls. ‘The Real Raila’ page was a source of propaganda against Raila Odinga. Later, the two pages were linked to an American digital media company, Harris Media. Evidently, the campaign teams were not sparing any guns in their use of digital propaganda in their politicking strategies.

 A screenshot of ‘The Real Raila’ Instagram page

Newspaper feature of the involvement of Harris Media in digital propaganda in the 2017 polls

In addition, taking the e-propaganda a notch higher, the campaign took advantage of the credibility of international news platforms such as the CNN and BBC to further confuse the electorate. The Jubilee government created false headlines resembling those of CNN and BBC showing polls indicating that Uhuru Kenyatta was ahead of his rival, Raila Odinga. The fake news items had the corresponding names and brand colours matching these international media outlets. The use of these platforms to peddle disinformation increases the veracity of the news items because international news is more likely to be objective as compared to the local channels. It is important to note that these pieces of information are shared widely across all social media platforms including WhatsApp, the most widely used in the country.

Peddling of disinformation in international news outlets

As expected, false news regarding the next general elections in 2022 is already in circulation as the political environment in the country continues to heat up every day.

The above photo from Africa Check shows a falsified front page of The Standard, one of Kenya’s leading newspapers, claiming that William Ruto, the incumbent Deputy President, claimed that he will not be needing the president’s (Uhuru Kenyatta) support in the next general election. 

From the foregoing, it is evident that the last two electioneering periods in Kenya have witnessed a mix of both propaganda both in the mainstream media and social media and this is likely to continue in the next general election. Digital propaganda, however, is more far reaching as it is severally nuanced due to the possibility of sharing multiply across different social media platforms, immediate engagement and lack of veracity. Modern campaigns in Kenya have taken advantage of these loopholes to utilize digital propaganda as a means to influence the electorate.

Impact of Social Media and Fake News on Youth Participation in the Electoral Processes in Kenya 

The nexus between social media and the youth bulge the world over is loud and consistent. Social media is the new mainstream media among individuals born in the late 20th Century and the 21st Century. Research shows that these young people grew up with cellphones and the internet hence have no loyalty to traditional media. Given the high population of young people, now making up almost half of the world’s population, their influence in all critical matters cannot be ignored, especially on political candidates garnering for voters.

The increased political activity across social media platforms has been sparked by the potential number of voters readily available on these platforms. Barack Obama, in 2008, became the pioneer presidential candidate to embrace the power of social media to boost his political and campaign strategy. Since then, the use of social media as a campaigning tool is almost a given for all presidential candidates in the world.

The demography of social media suggests that majority of its users are the youth aged below the age of 35. As aforementioned, the Kenyan population is youthful, with a median age of around 21 and more than 70% of this population is made up of young persons below the age of 35 who on average spend three hours of their days on social media.

It is therefore not surprising that social media campaigning took root in the 2013 and 2017 elections as the main aspiring candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, scrimmaged for the decisive youth vote. With this increase of political discourse on social media platforms, it is easy to overlook the fact that elections remain a democratic process. The place of democracy can easily be overshadowed in a landscape where urgency and interactivity supersedes democratic ideals. Does the use of social media in electoral processes therefore undermine democracy and the role of the youth in political processes in Kenya?

No doubt, the digital age has expanded the much-needed democratic spaces in Kenya. For the youth, social media provides an arena for political discussions, real-time participation a source of diverse opinions, and a virtual community of like-minded counterparts. Social media platforms have also increased the willingness of the youthful population to participate in politics and the increase in political knowledge.

On the other hand, for the political aspirant, it is a sphere of influence where they undertake the voter mobilization process, easily access medium for the absorption and distribution of campaign information, allow campaign strategies to easily target voters, recruit volunteers among others. 

On the contrary, the emergence of the digital space has also compromised democratic processes through the spread of fake news: misinformation and disinformation during the electioneering period. Kenya is on the international radar with regards to the spread of digital propaganda during the electoral processes, not even sparing the independent electoral commission.

Research shows that online manipulation and disinformation tactics played an important role in elections in at least 18 countries. In addition, the decline on internet freedom over the years occasioned by restrictive political regimes, social media algorithms and sponsored content compromises democracy in the digital spaces. 

The relationship between social media presence during the campaign period and election results is however still in doubt. In 2017, Uhuru Kenyatta had the largest social media followers in comparison to the other aspirants and he emerged the winner after the elections. There is no evidence however, that the social media following resulted to his success in the ballot. In Kenya, social media posts are widely shared across social media platforms hence circulate far and wide, and this is especially true for fake news.

A viral post on Twitter or Facebook can easily be wired to WhatsApp through a link or a screenshot hence defying the boundaries of a certain platforms. Consequently, the news items is accessed by any social media user regardless of their preferential use of specific platforms. In this manner, social media poisons democracy as it facilitates the unregulated widespread of misinformation and disinformation across different platforms.

Youthful Candidates and Social Media

The effects of social media on youth participation in elections in Kenya includes its influence on those who choose to run for office. In 2017, the most outstanding youthful candidate was Boniface Mwangi, a well-known human rights activist and journalist turned election aspirant. Mwangi, 34 years of age at the time, ran for the Member of Parliament seat of Starehe Constituency in Nairobi County. He employed social media platforms as the main tool for his campaigning strategy. He leveraged his huge following on social media to pull young people to his side and to raise funds for his campaign.

At the time, it is reported that he had over 741,000 followers on Twitter, 271,000 friends on Facebook and 60,000 followers on Instagram. In addition, through Email and WhatsApp, he was able to send out newsletters to his supporters every week. Despite the overwhelming support Mwangi had on social media and the vibrant campaign he maintained throughout the electioneering period, these digital numbers did not reflect on the ballot as he lost to his opponent. This goes to show that digital ad social media campaigning strategies are only effective to a certain level but can never be employed solely to win an election in a country socially and politically set up like Kenya.

Countering Fake News in Kenya

The extent of the dissemination of fake news and misinformation in the country in the last two general elections in Kenya sparked the need for putting in place mechanisms to check the same. Consequently, certain structures including laws, regulations, and other initiatives in that regard were set up as follows:

In 2017, the Communications Authority of Kenya came up with Guidelines on Prevention of Dissemination of Undesirable Bulk and Premium Rate Political Messages and Political Social Media Content via Electronic Communication Networks. The guidelines are grounded on the principles of accuracy and accountability to compel the creators of political content on social media platforms to authenticate and validate the source and truthfulness of the content before making it public. Further, the ‘truthful posting and publishing’ clause reiterates that: “political content authors shall at all times maintain accuracy in their publications and shall be responsible for all their content as published”.

Such stipulations are meant to curb the spread of rumours and other information devoid of facts that could be misleading and cause greater harm to the society. In addition to provisions regulating the action of political content authors, the regulations also charges social media platform administrators with the onus of moderating and controlling undesirable content and discussions taking place on their platforms.  The scope of control includes pulling down suspect accounts within a day after being reported to them.

The Kenyan Penal Code also contains provisions on fake news under the ‘Alarming Publications’ clause which states that : “a person who publishes any false statement, rumours or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the peace is guilty of a misdemeanor”. The only defense for the offence being the proof of due diligence by the accused before making the information public. It is important to note that the Code previously had provisions criminalizing defamation but it was recently declared unconstitutional in the case of Jacqueline Okuta & Another v AG and 2 others (2017) on the grounds that it was contrary to the constitutional freedom of expression. 

In addition, the Kenya Information and Communications Act makes it an offence to use telecommunication systems inappropriately. Improper use according to this law includes sending a message that one knows to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another person. Further, the Act criminalizes unlawful sending of misleading messages. Another legislation regulating the dissemination of information is the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act which criminalizes false publication.

The Section states that “a person who knowingly publishes information that is false in print, broadcast, data or over a computer system, that is calculated or results in panic, chaos or violence among citizens of the Republic or which is likely to discredit the reputation of a person commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both.” The Act also limits the constitutional right to freedom of expression where a publication with regard to the intentional publication of false, misleading or fictitious data or misinformation that is likely to propagate war or incite persons to violence or that which constitutes hate speech. 

Apart from these laws and guidelines, certain organizations and initiative have been for the purpose of countering the spread of fake news and misinformation. For example, Africa Check is an organization actively engaged in the fight against fake news in Kenya and Africa. It exists to promote accuracy in public debate and media in Africa. Furthermore, in 2018, the US Embassy in Nairobi, in partnership with local organizations launched a campaign to counter the spread of false news through medial literacy campaigns. The campaign used the Twitter Hashtag #StopReflectVerify to educate social media users on the importance of evaluating a suspect post before sharing them on their personal platforms. Local mainstream media channels such as The Star also contribute to the fight against disinformation by running programmes for the same. 

Conclusion

The rise of the population of the youth in the world calls for their involvement in all processes for the benefit of both the present and future generations. The youth are the leaders of the digital age and have taken more to social media than any other age group. As the world swiftly shifts to the online spaces, more so escalated by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs to pave way for youth leadership on the same. Since the presidential campaign of President Barrack Obama in 2008, the new age of social media campaigning has become a requirement for all campaign teams especially targeting the youth, who in most countries, carry the decisive vote. As social media continues to morph into a democratic space in the information age, it is poisoned by the spread of misinformation and disinformation due to lack of goodwill among political aspirants. Kenya is one of the countries affected by the chronic spread of fake news with candidates going to great lengths to hire international digital relations firm to carry on their dirty business. The need to regulate social media is becoming a reality every day, especially in African countries where social media almost operates in a vacuum. A balance between online modern politicking and the protection of the principles of democracy.

Karen Koech, Regional Manager for Media Literacy. The Youth Cafe

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