A recent report from Amnesty International has revealed that Kenya’s government allegedly employed digital tools and online tactics to intimidate and suppress young protesters during the 2024–2025 demonstrations against the Finance Bill.
According to the report, these actions resulted in 128 deaths, 83 enforced disappearances, and over 3,000 arbitrary arrests, highlighting a broad effort to silence a new generation of activists.
Amnesty International said that authorities used online harassment, disinformation campaigns, and unlawful monitoring to discourage participation in protests.
The organisation expressed concern over reports that security agencies accessed mobile data and location information without proper court approval, raising alarms about privacy violations.
The report also pointed to social media platform X for not stopping organised campaigns of hate and false information aimed at activists.
“Online harassment and smear campaigns became the core tools of the states to undermine the credibility of the government critics… some of these tactics facilitated and were later used in killings and enforced disappearances,” said Victor Odede, Amnesty International Head of Programmes.
Executive Director Irungu Houghton added, “Massive intrusion of surveillance has taken place over the last one year… many of the cases we have discussed are related to serious crimes related to deaths, enforced disappearance.”
Amnesty’s research uncovered that a network of paid online agents, often called trolls, targeted young activists with threats and intimidation.
One protester recounted, “I had people coming into my inbox and telling me: 'You will die and leave your kids. We will come and attack you'. I even had to change my child's school. Someone sent me my child's name, the age... the school bus number plate. They told me: 'If you continue doing what you're doing, then we will take care of this child for you'."
The report found that women and LGBT+ activists were disproportionately targeted, facing homophobic and misogynistic attacks, including AI-generated sexually explicit images.
Amnesty highlighted a man who claimed he was paid between 25,000 and 50,000 Kenyan shillings per day to amplify pro-government content online and suppress protest-related hashtags.
In total, Amnesty interviewed 31 young activists involved in the protests, nine of whom reported receiving direct threats through X, TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
The crackdown on the demonstrations was severe, with over 100 people killed during protests in 2024 and 2025, according to rights groups. Activists were also subjected to arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and, in some cases, lethal force.
While the government admitted some cases of excessive police action, it defended its security forces in other situations.
The protests, led mainly by Gen Z activists, addressed grievances including tax increases, rising gender-based violence, and corruption.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty chief, said: “Our report demonstrates coordinated campaigns on digital platforms to silence young protesters. These efforts were driven by state-backed networks paid to promote pro-government messaging and dominate Kenya’s trending topics on X.”
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen responded: “The government of Kenya does not sanction harassment, or violence against any citizen... any officer implicated in unlawful conduct bears individual responsibility and is subject to investigation and sanction.”
The report also flagged illegal surveillance, including allegations, denied by Safaricom, that authorities tracked mobile users to monitor protest leaders.
