ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has brushed off threats made by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to suspend Facebook for a period of seven days for failing to comply with the hate speech regulations by the commission.
In a statement shared via his official twitter account, CS Mucheru took issue with the threats issued by the government body on Friday, July 29 stating that the government had not okayed the decision made by the commission.
While querring how NCIC intends to suspend the social firm without the government’s approval, Mucheru stated that the decision by the NCIC was underscoring the media, adding that all media platforms including social media will continue normal operations free from government control, cencorship and restriction.
“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.
NCIC threaten to suspend Facebook in Kenya
Mucheru’s remarks follow after NCIC through its commissioner Danvas Makori threatened to suspend Facebook in Kenya for failing to adhere to hate speech regulations.
While addressing the press on Friday, July 29, 2022, NCIC commander Danvas Makori stated that the social media platform had failed to implement the regulations suggested by the commission adding that the firm had refused to publish peace messages published by the entity.
According to Makori, the social firm had surpressed their attempts to publish and push peace messages on social networking platform.
“We are a Government agency. We have been trying to push peace messages on Facebook but Facebook has been surpressing them. We have been unable to fight hate speech online because Facebook has refused to allow us to publish these messages,” he said.
