Citizen's online platform, Citizen Digital, was forced to apologize to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi over an article it alleged his son was caught splashing money in a city club.
In the apology posted on Wednesday, the publisher, through eDaily, stated that the man who was caught on the video circulated online was not the Speaker's son.
Part of the apology read: "We have since established that the man is not Hon. Muturi's son and Citizen Digital wishes to sincerely apologize to the Hon. Speaker and his family for the error."
The article claimed that the man who was splashing money at the club was Robert Bundi, the son of Speaker Muturi, at the uptown Mercury Lounge, ABC Place off Waiyaki Way.
[caption caption="House Speaker Justin Muturi"]
[/caption]
The man shocked many when he took out Ksh 100,000 and dished out crisp bank notes to the excited revellers and staff.
Journalists and the whole public alike have been urged to take measures to identify fake news and counter its spread.
The US embassy in Nairobi launched a year-long initiative to curb the spread of disinformation through educational videos and internet postings intended to promote “media literacy.”
The campaign involved three-day training sessions for public affairs officials in Kenya's counties to encourage local governments to be more responsive to journalists seeking to fact-check claims.
This is after Kenya's 2017 presidential election campaigns were allegedly tarnished by numerous instances of false information being widely transmitted through the popular online Facebook messaging platform WhatsApp.
[caption caption="Fake News "]
[/caption]
London-based Cambridge Analytica is accused of using “data-mining” and image-manipulation techniques in its work for President Kenyatta's election campaigns in 2013 and 2017.
