We should tame hate speech on Facebook

BY MICHAEL OKELLOH

Some Kenyan media houses have joined Facebook - the popular social network website - with a view to educating, informing or entertaining their different audiences.


However, the increasing incidents of ethnic-based hate speech on some of these media houses’ Facebook profile pages should concern particularly the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and the police.

A recent example was discernable from comments posted by fans in response to one of the TV stations’ Facebook status update on the post-constitutional referendum Cabinet reshuffle by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

When suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto — the prominent face among those who unsuccessfully opposed our recently promulgated Constitution — retained his Cabinet position during the August 9 Cabinet reshuffle, his Facebook-based supporters boasted that Mr Ruto was ‘untouchable.’

relative ease

This led to a nauseating Facebook exchange of ethnic-based hate mainly between supporters of the PM, a Luo, and those of Ruto, a Kalenjin.

Three factors may explain why expressions amounting to hate speech are spread — with relative ease — on Facebook in Kenya. The first is ignorance by many Facebook users and the administrators of Facebook pages on what expressions amount to hate speech and its punishment under Kenyan law.

In the book Hate Speech and the Constitution: The Development of the Hate Speech Debate, hate speech is defined as an "expression that abuses or degrades others on account of their... ethnic ... identity."

The two main ingredients of hate speech are: a communication containing hate; and a protected group such as a tribe, which is a target of a hate communication.

Hate speech usually capitalises on something that is peculiar to, and easily identifies a given protected group.

Our new Constitution recognises hate speech as among the grounds that authorities can cite to justify limiting your freedom of expression.

The National Cohesion and Integration Act (NICA) notes that hate speech can be spread for example through written materials, which include comments on websites such as Facebook.

NICA also provides that the lack of an intention to spread hate speech is irrelevant, because circumstantial evidence may be used to infer an intention to spread hate speech.

Finally, NICA puts the punishment for a convicted hate-monger at a fine of up to one million shillings or up to three years imprisonment, or both.

The second factor behind the spread of hate speech on Facebook is the subconscious sense of obscurity and privacy mistakenly offered by Facebook. However, IT experts will tell you — literally speaking — that you can run, but cannot hide on the Internet.

There exist technologies that can enable law enforcers to conduct Internet surveillance and, for example, trace the exact computer or Internet-enabled mobile phone from which an individual posted an offending comment on websites such as Facebook.

inadequate capacity

The vulnerability of Facebook users is compounded by the fact that a properly completed Facebook profile contains detailed information about its users, which can easily identify them, such as name, birthday, siblings, education and work history, photos and friends.

Jurisdictions such as New York are now admitting information on social networking sites as evidence in court cases.

The third factor contributing to the increase of hate speech on Facebook is the inadequate capacity of the relevant Kenyan law enforcement authorities, particularly the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and the Cyber Crimes Police Unit. Facebook statistics show that it has over 500 million active users, half of whom log on to Facebook every day; more than 150 million active users access Facebook through mobile devices; and mobile device users are twice active as non-mobile devices Facebook users.

tribalised society

It is estimated that there are over two million Facebook users in Kenya.

Appreciating the limited capacity of our law enforcers, administrators of Facebook pages should proactively monitor and take action against hate speech on their Facebook pages.

The young and the educated are largely the main users of Facebook, and by implication the consumers or purveyors of hate speech on Facebook.

Our constitutional national values and principles of governance include national unity, inclusiveness, human rights and non-discrimination.

Our efforts towards transforming our tribalised society into one that tolerates our diversity will remain a mirage if we allow ethnic-based hate speech to flourish in social media tools like Facebook.

The writer is an advocate and Governance and Policy Officer, TI-Kenya.