LSK calls for arrests over hate speech on social media
LSK CEO/Secretary Apollo Mboya at a past event. PHOTO/WILLIAM OERI
What you need to know:
- LSK attached a download of a Facebook post by a user together with comments
- The posts incite the public to violence targeted at a specific community and may very well constitute hate speeches
The Law Society of Kenya has asked the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to take action on perpetrators of hate speech on social media.
LSK Chief Executive Officer Apollo Mboya said some posts on Facebook and Twitter contain messages that may plunge the country into ethnic chaos.
Mr Mboya, in a letter to the DPP Keriako Tobiko dated May 21, 2014, singled out posts on Facebook that he termed as inciteful.
“The posts incite the public to violence targeted at a specific community and may very well constitute hate speeches, which if not curbed may plunge the country into chaos,” he said.
According to LSK, section 13 of the National Cohesion and Integration Act makes it illegal to use threatening, abusive or insulting words, acts or materials liable to stir up ethnic hatred.
Section 62 of the Act further outlaws speech intended to incite feelings of contempt, hatred, hostility, violence or discrimination against any person, group or community on the basis of ethnicity or race.
In the letter to the DPP, LSK attached a download of a Facebook post by a user together with comments brought to its attention by concerned members of the public.
Mr Mboya urged the DPP to exercise his constitutional responsibility to direct the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo to institute investigations on the social media posts.
“The Inspector General of the National Police Service should investigate the information and allegation of criminal conduct and ensure those responsible are brought to account for their utterances,” Mr Mboya said.
