Amnesty International has released a report accusing the Kenyan government of using technology to repress citizens during the 2024 and 2025 Gen Z protests.
The report documents widespread tech-facilitated violence, enforced disappearances, online harassment, and unlawful surveillance targeting young activists during these demonstrations.
“Tech-facilitated violence against young activists in Kenya shows how governments and allied groups are increasingly weaponizing digital platforms to stifle protests, as part of a broader strategy to shut down digitally organized dissent,” said Victor Odede, head of programmes at Amnesty International Kenya.
The youth-led protests were fueled by widespread frustration over rising taxes, economic hardship, corruption, and violent policing. According to the report, social media—initially a powerful tool for mobilizing youth against the contested 2024 Finance Bill—became a battleground where activists were tracked, intimidated, and targeted by state-linked actors.
“Amnesty International estimates that across both sets of protests in June 2024 and July 2025, excessive use of force by security agencies resulted in at least 128 deaths, 3,000 arrests, and over 83 enforced disappearances,” Odede added.
Amnesty interviewed 31 young human rights defenders who described a sustained campaign of online threats, doxing, gender-based harassment, and coordinated disinformation aimed at discrediting the movement. Many activists received direct threats through X, TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp, including messages warning them of potential harm to themselves or their children.
One Mombasa-based activist told Amnesty that she was forced to transfer her child to a different school after receiving messages from anonymous accounts detailing her child’s personal information, including class and school bus number. Another young commentator reported receiving threats from a man impersonating a police officer.
The report also highlights the rise of state-linked blogger networks, popularly known as “527 bloggers,” who allegedly run coordinated online attacks against vocal activists. Their tactics include spreading false information, creating counter-hashtags to drown out protest messaging, and framing activists as “foreign agents,” “commercial activists,” or “liars.” “X, formerly Twitter, is central to pro-government networks spreading disinformation and smear campaigns. These networks mass-post identical messages repeatedly to hijack the platform’s algorithm and amplify government-sponsored messaging,” said Odede.
An influencer interviewed by Amnesty admitted to being part of a WhatsApp-organized network of around 20 individuals, paid between Sh25,000 and Sh50,000 per day to promote pro-government narratives and manipulate trending topics during major protests.
In addition to harassment, activists reported unlawful surveillance. They accused Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications provider, of granting security agencies access to call data and location records without court orders, allegations the company denies. Amnesty cites a 2025 court case in which a police officer stationed at Safaricom admitted under oath that call tracing in a student’s arrest was conducted without judicial authorization.
The report notes that Kenya’s expanded surveillance capabilities, including facial recognition cameras in Nairobi, have heightened public fear and given police unprecedented ability to track protesters and online influencers. Young women and LGBTI activists reportedly faced the harshest forms of digital violence, including misogynistic attacks, AI-generated sexual images, and coordinated homophobic campaigns. Many told Amnesty they now self-censor due to safety concerns, mental health strain, and the risk of abduction.
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate halt to all tech-facilitated state violence, independent investigations into enforced disappearances and killings, and legal reforms to curb abuse of cybercrime laws. The organization also urges X and Safaricom to strengthen human rights safeguards.
– By Timon Otieno
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