The #RejectFinanceBill hashtag was tweeted four million times on X, attracting the attention of people nationally and globally. The hashtag entailed information on citizens’ demands on political accountability, civic education on various governance issues, calls for the release of citizens who have been unlawfully arrested or abducted, and community self-organizing on peaceful protests to take place. Interacting with these social media posts every time someone is on social media has stirred emotions and actions that have portrayed citizens’ awakening on various governance issues. A common phrase in Kenya right now is that every Kenyan has become an activist.
During this period, it has been notable how ethical algorithms can be used as tools for pursuing various social justice issues. Algorithms are rules and signals that rank content on a social media platform. They play a key role in selecting, filtering, and recommending content for users on social media platforms. As a result, they recommend what content social media users interact with and influence the user’s choices and actions.
When people or institutions engage in online activism as they advocate for social and political change, oppressors and violators of human rights also use the same platforms to counter social justice advocates’ concerns. Therefore, an ordinary user of social media will interact with content from both sides. We have had instances where tech companies such as X and Facebook are accused of algorithmic censorship. For example, X was accused of allegedly interfering with the #RejectFinanceBill and shadow-banning the hashtag. Also, Facebook revealed its experiment on its users by determining the feed posts to control their emotions. This significantly undermines people’s freedom of opinion on issues and widens the social cracks among people in a society. Previously, Irene Khan, the special rapporteur on the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, stated that tech companies are known to promote systems that can negatively impact the choice and agency of people in terms of the information they consume online.
Kenyans use social media platforms to demand good governance, respect for the rule of law, and justice. These past weeks, we have witnessed members of the public, government officials and government institutions spreading various narratives about the protests and citizens’ demands. Kenyans on various social platforms, especially on X, have been extra vigilant in ensuring that the hashtags and narratives of alleged government officials or institutions against the protests do not overpower their push for accountability and justice. Citizens have had to maintain their hashtags and keep on writing posts about citizens’ demands as they mobilize each other and self-organize as a citizen-led movement.
The information that people interact with and consume on social media plays a key role in shaping their opinions about various issues. It influences a social justice movement within a country, its momentum, and the amplification of its demands. It is imperative for tech companies to comply with business and human rights standards and ensure that platforms respect the rights of users. Civil Society Organizations and members of the public need to hold tech companies accountable for issues pertaining to ethical and impartial algorithms that respect and uphold people’s freedom of opinion, conscience, and expression based on the information users interact with on their platforms. The Social Justice Movement needs to be more vigilant on online platforms and ensure they document and push back on the manipulation of algorithms to scuttle social justice causes online.
Amy Ochieng is Amnesty International Kenya’s Movement Building Officer and writes in her personal capacity. Email: [email protected]