Journalist, writer and curator of the Wall of Great Africans
Kenya has demanded that all social media companies operating within its borders establish a physical presence in the country and appoint local managers, asserting this is a crucial step to clamp down on misuse and hate speech, ensuring these platforms are held accountable.
Currently, aside from Google, which owns YouTube, and Microsoft, the owner of LinkedIn, no other social media companies have a physical office in Kenya, one of Africa’s leading social media markets.
Elsewhere in Africa, Google has offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Johannesburg (South Africa), Accra (Ghana), Cairo (Egypt), and Casablanca (Morocco). Microsoft has further offices in Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt.
None of the social media properties owned by these tech giants are considered ‘hot button’ platforms, with the possible exception of YouTube.
On a continent with 1.5 billion people, where 97 per cent of Internet users in Kenya, 96 per cent in South Africa, and 95 per cent in Nigeria use Meta’s WhatsApp alone, the company maintains just two offices—in Lagos and Johannesburg.
X (formerly Twitter), owned by South African-born Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, currently lacks any operational physical offices across Africa.
It briefly had a fledgling office in Accra, Ghana, which was closed in November 2022 shortly after Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter.
Political developments in the US, however, have escalated the challenges for Kenya and other African nations in regulating these social media giants.
After the US elections, with Donald Trump poised to take office, Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and chairman and CEO of Meta, aligned with several tech billionaires and America’s ultra-wealthy, supporting the new leader.
He donated one million dollars to Trump’s inauguration and adjusted Meta’s policies to match Trump’s, including dismantling its fact-checking operations for both Facebook and Instagram—a move particularly troubling for Kenya.
YouTube, under its parent company Alphabet (via Google), although not aligning as closely with Trump as Meta, also contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
X stands out as the most divisive social media platform today. Musk heavily supported Trump, contributing over $250 million to his campaign, effectively turning X into Trump’s megaphone.
Musk and X have been credited with securing Trump’s presidency, earning him the moniker “co-president”, and he was appointed head of the quasi-governmental Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk has become Trump’s enforcer, aggressively targeting what Trump labels as “woke” agencies and programmes.
The alliance between Trump and the American tech oligarchy suggests that the cost of shutting down platforms like X or Meta would be extraordinarily high.
Instead of facing a confused American social media lawyer and mid-level executive, African leaders might now confront Trump’s sanctions or tariffs for “censoring free speech”.
East Africa has already experienced this approach. In 2018, Trump suspended Rwanda’s duty-free privileges under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to Rwanda’s increased tariffs on mitumba imports (second-hand clothing and footwear) from the US, although Rwanda retained other AGOA benefits unrelated to apparel.
In his second term, Trump has shown himself to be more zealous and uncompromising in promoting his “America First” doctrine, indicating that any move against American companies would be costly.
To compound matters, Musk’s SpaceX, through its Starlink service, announced and is developing a satellite-to-mobile phone direct link, often referred to as “Direct to Cell” service.
This development could pose a significant challenge for African leaders in a continent where, according to a 2024 report by Techpoint Africa, 46 per cent of all Internet shutdowns occurred that year.
The “Direct to Cell” service differs from traditional “kawaida” Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which governments can easily shut down due to their reliance on land-based infrastructure.
Satellite communications cover vast areas, making widespread censorship much more challenging (though not impossible) because they transcend national or regional boundaries. Implementing such censorship would require substantial investment, far beyond merely dispatching police to raid ISP offices.
Kenya, for instance, has issues with TikTok, the preferred social platform for its rebellious Generation Z. In the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s term, US lawmakers moved to ban TikTok due to security concerns linked to its Chinese owner, ByteDance, which the US alleges serves the interests of the ruling Communist Party unless it divested at least 50 per cent of its shares. Upon taking office, one of Trump’s actions was to sign an executive order giving TikTok a 75-day window to comply.
An American company will likely purchase TikTok, which has never operated in mainland China. This acquisition would also place TikTok under the “America First” umbrella.
Ironically, progressive African free speech activists might privately commend the far-right Trump, who has openly expressed contempt for Africa, for this turn of events.
Charles Onyango-Obbo is a journalist, writer, and curator of the “Wall of Great Africans.” X (Twitter) @cobbo3
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