The government was reportedly running a coordinated online campaign to intimidate, track and silence thousands of Gen Z protesters who led demonstrations between June 2024 and July 2025, according to a new report.
The report, dubbed “This fear, everyone is feeling it”: Tech-facilitated violence against young activists in Kenya, exposed an elaborate effort from authorities, who allegedly used various social media platforms to muffle dissent from protesters and activists who were too vocal against the state.
According to the report by Amnesty International, the government and its allied digital networks weaponised social media platforms to completely muffle dissent. This was done through deployment of what has been dubbed 'technology-facilitated violence', organised largely through X, formerly Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
The report claims that these platforms were flooded with state-backed trolling, smear campaigns, threats and disinformation, which mainly targeted young activists.
“Our analysis clearly demonstrates widespread and coordinated tactics on digital platforms to silence and suppress protests,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said.
The findings from Amnesty point to a complex digital strategy allegedly managed by trolls who are state-sponsored to elevate pro-government narratives.
The goal, according to Amnesty, was to drown out protest content while at the same time painting the government in the best light possible amid the close watch of international observers.
By flooding social media with pro-government messages, the trolls effectively hijacked trending algorithms and buried hashtags associated with the so-called 'Gen-Z movement'.
In June 2024, at the height of the Gen-Z protests, which spread across the country under different hashtags, including #Occupy, the state allegedly resorted to fighting fire with fire by launching a parallel online campaign as well, using social media as a 'tool of repression'.
The report alleged that beyond suppressing hashtags, authorities also used threats, intimidation and surveillance to interfere with youths' freedom of expression and assembly.
Subsequently, online harassment became a precursor to mayhem in the real world, with several activists reporting threats such as "We are coming for you." This was followed by enforced disappearances.
Other activists described tens of bloggers, allegedly linked to the government, launching coordinated online attacks to insult, dehumanise and discredit government critics.
Human rights defender Hanifa Adan was highlighted as a prime example in the report of a government critic who was subjected to, among other things, doxxing, body shaming and online abuse. “It took away the spark, the joy. It took away who I was,” she said.
Amnesty, in the report, called on the government to get to the bottom of the tech-facilitated violence and investigate enforced disappearances.
