Social media platforms Facebook, TikTok and Twitter did not live up to their election integrity pledges during Kenya’s August elections, according to a new study by the Mozilla Foundation. The report says content labeling failed to stop misinformation, as political advertising served to amplify propaganda.
The study found that hours after voting ended in Kenya these social media platforms were awash with mis- and disinformation on candidates that were purported to have won the elections, and that labeling by Twitter and Tiktok was spotty and failed to stop the spread of these falsehoods. It says that the spotty labeling of posts calling the elections ahead of the official announcement affected some parties more than others, which made the platforms seem partisan.
