Table 2: Observed Strategies, Tools and Techniques of Social Media Manipulation in
Kenya
Account Types Messaging and Valence
Content
and Platforms
Communication
Strategies
Human
Bots
Support
Attacking Opposition
Suppression
Disinformation
Trolls
Twitter
WhatsApp
Facebook
Source: Authors’ evaluations based on data collected. Blank spaces indicate no evidence was found.
Organizational Capacity and Resources
It seems most of the activities surrounding the latest election ceased after the election was done,
but their effects continue; elections are becoming more and more expensive as candidates are
no longer just politicians but brands that are carefully managed by growing online campaign
teams. Such “brand-management” continues outside of election cycles through, for example,
Twitter profiles. In terms of resources, the Jubilee party reportedly spent $6m on Cambridge
Analytica during the 2017 election, with Kenyan politicians spending an average of $50m on
their campaigns (though it is unclear how much of that would be spent on online influence
campaigns) (Nyabola, 2019).
Table 3: Cyber Troop Capacity in Kenya
Team Size
Resources
Spent Activity Levels
(USD)
$6 Mio.
Temporary
Coordination
Capacity
Measure
Liminal
Source: Authors’ evaluations based on data collected. Blank spaces indicate no evidence was found.
References
Anzalone, C. (2020). Addressing the Enemy: Al-Shabaab’s PSYOPS Media Warfare.
CTCSENTINEL, 13(3). https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CTCSENTINEL-032020.pdf
BBC News. (2017, June 26). Kenya’s election: Your questions answered. BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39810869
Constitutional Petition In the matter of the Legal and Constitutional validity of the
Governments’ decision through the Communications Authority of Kenya to secretly
acquire capability for spying on the population by tapping the networks of Mobile Phone
providers, No. 53 (High Court of Kenya April 19, 2018).
https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/KENYAJUDGMENT-ON-RIGHT-TO-PRIVACY-DEVICE-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM.pdf
Dahir, A. L. (2017, June 25). Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta are being hit by fake news in
Kenya’s election campaign—Quartz Africa. Quartz Africa.
https://qz.com/africa/1011989/fake-news-and-misinformation-are-upstaging-kenyasupcoming-high-stakes-election/
Elliott, R. (2017, July 18). GeoPoll and Portland launch a Survey Report on Fake News in
Kenya. GeoPoll. https://www.geopoll.com/blog/geopoll-and-portland-launch-a-surveyreport-on-fake-news-in-kenya/
Freedom House. (2018a). Kenya: Cybercrimes Law Restricts Media Freedom. Freedom
House. https://freedomhouse.org/article/kenya-cybercrimes-law-restricts-media-freedom
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