- Talks between President William Ruto and TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew will see the video sharing platform set up Kenya office to oversight Africa
- The move comes a week after a call to ban TikTok for sharing explicit content was tabled in Parliament.
Video sharing platform TikTok has agreed to establish a Kenyan office aimed at enhancing content moderation and operational efficiency across Africa. This decision comes against the backdrop of existing legal issues related to content moderation in Kenya.
Following discussions with President Ruto William, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has made a commitment to set up a dedicated office in Kenya, responsible for coordinating TikTok’s activities across the African continent.
This meeting, held on August 24, 2023, gains significance in light of recent debates concerning the potential ban of TikTok due to sharing of explicit content in the country. The office’s establishment aligns with President William Ruto’s assertion that this move will ensure the content on the platform adheres to community standards.
The process of content moderation has been a challenging one, evidenced by former content moderators’ legal actions against Meta and Majorel. Despite being employed by third-party contractors like Majorel, a court ruling has held Meta liable for labour rights violations.
Adding to the complexity, a leaked internal TikTok document exposed the company’s preparation for investigations into its treatment of outsourced content moderators in Kenya.
Monetization Aspirations and Omissions
President Ruto’s statement, however, does not address the topic of enhancing Kenya’s monetization potential on the platform. Although discussions with various social media platforms have occurred, it remains uncertain if these influenced YouTube and Facebook’s decision to enable monetization in Kenya.
While President Ruto claims that his conversations with YouTube led to Kenya’s access to the platform’s monetization program last year, historical evidence contradicts this. Reports from 2015 indicate that Kenya and other African countries have had access to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) for nearly a decade, providing monetization features. However, contrary to Dr Ruto’s assertion, 12 African countries, not four, currently have access to these features.
In line with countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, Kenya can monetize content through Facebook’s Ad Breaks feature. However, this access was granted in 2019.
President Ruto aims to facilitate a similar monetization setup for Kenyan content creators. While direct monetization channels like Livestream Gifts and the Creator Fund are not yet available in any African country, TikTok users across the continent currently earn through influencer and affiliate marketing, as well as potentially promoting their products or services.
Read also: ICT sector to reap big in Ruto’s Kenyan digital space plan
