Weaponising the Feed: Inside Kenya’s Online War Against Activists
Kenya has seen a wave of deadly protests against President William Ruto and police brutality that have left dozens dead and thousands of businesses destroyed. But behind the scenes, a sophisticated online apparatus is targeting and harassing government critics, with software developer Rose Njeri becoming the latest victim.
Njeri created a pro-democracy tool to help Kenyans object to a contested finance bill, but she was thrown in jail and targeted by an online smear campaign. She claims she was just making tools that aligned with her beliefs, but her arrest sparked outrage and prompted a wave of solidarity under the hashtag #FreeRoseNjeri on X.
Around the same time, two human rights campaigners, including Kenya’s Boniface Mwangi, were detained in Tanzania, where they were attending the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Both activists alleged torture and sexual assault by security forces, while some posts falsely claimed that Njeri had trained in “ethical hacking” in Estonia and linked her to a Russian cyber-operations group.
Africa Check’s Kenya editor, Alphonce Shiundu, believes these campaigns are state-affiliated. “You just have to look at the political rhetoric, the statements by senior government officials and the online chatter. There’s always a confluence,” he told AFP.
Dissidents initially held the upper hand on social media during Kenya’s landmark 2024 anti-tax protests, which culminated in parliament being breached on June 25 and resulted in the deaths of dozens during clashes with police. But they now face growing opposition online.
In April, following the BBC documentary Blood Parliament, which exposed police brutality during last year’s protests, the hashtags #BBCForChaos and #ToxicActivists garnered millions of views. Posts framed activists, including Mwangi, as “paid puppets” pushing “donor-funded anarchy”.
Right before the anniversary of the June 25, 2024, protests, the hashtags #PaidActivism, #CommercialActivismKE and #ShunFakeActivismKE recycled claims that activists were exploiting the youth-led movement “for cameras and grants”.
Mwange’s brother, @essy_2128, posted over 100 times under the hashtag #AsanteSamia, while the account @MurimiJeff_ published 104 times with #ShunFakeActivismKE. According to data analyst Moffin Njoroge, some of these narratives have a history of pushing “pro-government hashtags”.
Njoroge believes that tracking disinformation networks has become “harder and more expensive” due to platform changes and the defunding of fact-checking and media literacy.
With elections approaching, Njoroge anticipates more “pro-government campaigns targeting opposition politicians and activists”. Mwangi has previously defended activism as a “holy calling done out of love”, dismissing the “paid activist” narrative as “government propaganda”.
Njeri, too, faces personal costs. “I have been getting followed by people who I can only suspect are state operatives. I do not feel free,” she said. “Why is it that they want me silent? What are they so afraid of? Let me continue until Kenya is free from this current tyrannical system,” she said.