William Ruto Holds Meeting With TikTok CEO, Agree To Moderate Content

• President William Ruto had earlier expressed his concerns over certain types of content being aired on TikTok
• In a meeting with TikTok global Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew, it was agreed that inappropriate content will be pulled down
• Chew further pledged to set up an office in Nairobi that will help in coordinating TikTok operations in Africa

Nairobi - President William Ruto has held a virtual meeting with TikTok global Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew regarding the moderation of the content on the popular platform.

TikTok to pull down offensive content

In a statement, the president said the short-form video hosting service TikTok had agreed to work with the Kenyan government in reviewing and monitoring its content.

President Ruto said the move will ensure that content on the platform adheres to agreed guidelines.

"In a virtual meeting with President Ruto on Thursday morning, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew committed to ensuring that content is moderated to fit community standards

This new development means that inappropriate or offensive content will be expunged from the platform," Ruto said.

The head of state further disclosed that Chew agreed to set up a Kenyan Office to coordinate its operations in the continent and pledged to hire more Kenyans to work for the platform.

Why businessman wants TikTok banned in Kenya

Meanwhile, Members of Parliament MPs opposed a petition to ban the popular video platform TikTok in Kenya over adult content.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula had received the public petition filed by Bob Ndolo.

The Bridget Connect Consultancy CEO justified the petition by claiming that the platform promoted offensive behaviour and violence, among other accusations.

Ndolo also accused the Chinese platform of collecting a significant amount of user data, including location and browser history and sharing it with third-party companies without user consent.

However, his petition was rejected by a majority of the lawmakers, who argued that there were no compelling reasons to warrant the ban of TikTok.

"There is nothing criminal about TikTok. I am also on Snapchat. However, there could be an element of abuse,” Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah said.

Minority Leader Opiyi Wandayi shared similar sentiments, saying:

"In this information age, we cannot afford to live in isolation. It will be foolhardy to contemplate banning TikTok or any other apps."