NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 6 – TikTok has announced a Sh229 million fund to support Kenyan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The announcement came as the Creative Economy and Sports Week kicked off at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
Kenya has in the meantime announced that it will not ban TikTok in the country after stricter rules were applied by the social media giant.
According to Youth Affairs, Arts and Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, this followed a meeting between TikTok and President William Ruto.
In August, a petitioner sought a ban on TikTok in the country due to inappropriate content has toned down and now wants regularization of the application through strict regulations.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Petition, Bob Ndolo, the Executive Director General of Bridge Consultancy, amended the petition to focus on regulation after receiving calls from various stakeholders regarding the App’s usage.
The petition came days after President Ruto had talks with TikTok Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew where they agreed on moderation mechanisms to reduce negative content on the video-sharing application.
“We have getting a lot of calls from tiktokers and that’s the reason why we wanted change to push for the regulations of the App to protect national security and protect the youth from inappropriate content,” Ndolo stated.
Ndolo emphasized that they were not coerced to amend their earlier petition pushing for the ban on Tiktok following President Ruto’s meeting with Tiktok management that promised to moderate the content on the global App.
“We are privy to the discussion between the President and Tiktok CEO but we became aware through the media.We were not involved in anyway,we have only had a meeting with Tiktok management from South Africa.We haven’t received any call from statehouse,”
Music and Copyright Society of Kenya Chief Executive Officer Ezekiel Mutua who supports the petition decried that the App has massive negative effects on the masses due to unregulated content.
Mutua implored MPs to take immediate action to safeguard Kenyans from the negative effects of the App which has exposed children to nudity and profanity.
“The social media sites that are unregulated are conduit for the destruction of our moral values. We have forgotten the software which is the moral fabric of our nation and where children are concerned,” he noted.
