Ruto to Meet Tiktok CEO Over Content

President William Ruto is set to hold a meeting with TikTok’s global CEO, Shou Zi Chew, on August 24. 

The meeting will address concerns over harmful and explicit content on the platform that is deemed inappropriate for Kenyan audiences, particularly children. Speaking during the Kenya Music Festival Winner’s State Concert in Nakuru on Wednesday, the Head of State said he would discuss strategies with the executive to moderate the platform’s content. According to Ruto, the goal is to make the platform attractive to Kenyans and reduce negative content while leveraging monetization that benefits more people.

This follows a petition submitted to Parliament seeking to ban TikTok for promoting explicit content and glorifying violence. The lawmakers are divided over whether to completely ban the app or introduce more stringent content censorship. During the upcoming meeting, the Kenyan government plans to discuss ways to allow local content creators to capitalize on their creativity.

“Over the past year, I have discussed with the owners of social media platforms, from Facebook to X to TikTok including YouTube and we have progressed our conversation and I am happy to say that two of them have already agreed to monetize content in Kenya. YouTube, for example, we are now at 80% monetization. We are one of the four countries in the African continent that we can now monetize our content on YouTube,” Ruto stated.

The Kenyan President has made a deal with both YouTube and X geared towards enabling creatives to earn from their content. In 2022, the President met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and agreed to choose 25 creators to monetize their content on the platform. To generate revenue and provide opportunities for young talent, Ruto proposes that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) should post its content on social media platforms, particularly music and drama events.