Piece by: BRIAN ORUTA

24 August 2023

• This comes after Ruto held a virtual meeting with the platform's Chief executive Shou Zi Chew.

• During the meeting, it was agreed that TikTok will work with the government of Kenya in reviewing and monitoring its content.

President William Ruto has stated that unsuitable or offensive content on the short-form video platform TikTok will be removed.

This follows a virtual meeting between Ruto and the platform's CEO, Shou Zi Chew.

During the discussion, it was agreed that TikTok will collaborate with the Kenyan government to examine and monitor its content.

According to Ruto, the initiative would ensure that content on the platform follows agreed-upon rules.

"This new development means that inappropriate or offensive content will be expunged from the platform," he said.

TikTok CEO Zi Chew committed to ensuring that content is moderated to fit community standards.

He also agreed to set up a Kenyan office to coordinate its operations in the country and across the African continent.

"He pledged to hire more Kenyans to work for the platform," a communication from State House said.

On Wednesday, Ruto announced that he would hold talks with the platforms CEO to see how they can have the content moderated and also monetised for Kenyan creators.

"I will speak to the global CEO of TikTok and we have moderation capacities on YouTube and X (former Twitter) so that we can agree on a mechanism to moderate content on their space," he said.

The talks followed an uproar from a section ok Kenyans over the obscene content displayed on the platform especially at night.

A petition was also filed in the National Assembly seeking to have the platform banned in the country.