Authorities in Kenya have given Facebook a week to comply with regulations related to hate speech after a report found the social media giant had failed to address the issue ahead of elections next month.
The warnings by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission follow findings from an investigation by Global Witness documenting how Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms Inc., didn’t detect hate speech advertisements in both Kenya’s official languages — English and Swahili.
Misinformation on social media has become an increasingly major problem around the world, especially during elections. Kenya holds what promises to be a closely fought presidential poll on Aug. 9, with Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga the leading candidates to replace Uhuru Kenyatta.
