A proposal in Parliament asking for the outlawing of the social networking site TikTok in Kenya was delivered to National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula.
According to the motion made by Bob Ndolo, CEO of Bridget Connect Consultancy, the site has been encouraging vices including adultery, hate speech, and foul language.
The petitioner claims that the site has undermined Kenyan social, cultural, and religious norms.
"The petition laments that despite its growing popularity among young people in Kenya, the kind of material that is circulated on the social networking site is inappropriate, encouraging violence, clear explicit material, hate speech, vulgar language, and offensive behaviour, which poses an imminent danger to Kenya's cultural and religious beliefs," Wetangula said.
Ndolo asserts that the Chinese platform would result in moral degradation, mental health problems, and subpar academic achievement if it were not outlawed.
He noted instances when the site has been penalised for illegally gathering data on children without their parents' permission.
"Over the years, TikTok has been linked to a number of privacy controversies. For instance, the US Federal Trade Commission fined the app $5.7 million in 2019 for improperly gathering personal information from children under the age of 13 by gathering information such as names, email addresses, and locations from young users without their parent's consent and violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act," according to Ndolo.
Ndolo has criticised the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for failing to properly govern TikTok, calling the site addicting.
The resolution has been forwarded to the Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly by Wetang'ula.
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