Nairobi — A non-profit organization advocating for the protection of children and the family unit has petitioned the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) to provide a status update on the ban of the Tiktok live feature.
CitizenGo Campaigns Director Anne Njogu says they are concerned that implementing the ban is taking time, as she called on the regulating agency to expedite the process.
She stated that banning the live feature in the popular social media app will help save the community from social decay before the matter gets out of hand.
"We are concerned that implementing the ban is taking time, and we would like to see this expedited. We are losing a generation to TikTok due to the live, unfathomable things that happen in these recordings," announced CitizenGo.
"A lot of shameless pornography occurs every night, turning the platform to Sodom and Gomorrah."
The development came after KFCB interim CEO Joel Wamalwa asked TikTok to make the 'live feature' ineffective on the app so that they can ensure that no community guidelines in the country are violated.
Wamalwa stated that KFCB in collaboration with other relevant Government agencies is keen on fostering cooperation with TikTok and other platforms to help content creators monetize and commercialize their talents.
"The role of KFCB is to regulate the creation, broadcasting, possession, distribution, and exhibition of film and broadcast content," cited from the KFCB website.
"The regulation is meant to ensure that content conforms to Kenya's culture, moral values, and national aspirations as well as to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content."
Last month, Bridget Connect Consultancy, Bob Ndolo petitioned the National Assembly to consider regulating or banning TikTok in the country due to its explicit content promoting violence, hate speech, and vulgarity that undermines Kenya's cultural and religious values.
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A parliamentary committee is due to study the request within two months.
Somalia became the latest country to announce it was banning TikTok, as well as the Telegram messaging service and an online betting site, with effect from August 24, claiming that these platforms were being used by "terrorists", notably the radical Islamist Shebab.
In Senegal, the authorities suspended it in early August until 'further notice' due to the dissemination of 'hateful and subversive' messages following protests against the imprisonment of opposition figure Ousmane Sonko.
The application, which has more than a billion active users worldwide, is also suspected by the authorities in the USA and several European countries of not protecting data sufficiently and of allowing Beijing to spy on and manipulate its users, something the group has always vigorously denied.
