Former Tahidi High actor Denis Mugo popularly known as OJ has opened up on a time his mother was inconsolable following rumors that he had been shot dead by a mob.
On his Youtube show, OJ Flix, the renowned actor spoke on cyberbullying and how it had affected a number of celebrities in the entertainment industry as well as media personalities.
"This topic is very personal to me especially because I have been through it and it took me to a very dark place when the story was put out on social media," he begun.
"I was just at home relaxing when I got a call from my mother, who was crying uncontrollably," he continued.
Alarmed by her cries, the actor panicked and sought to find out what the issue was; only for him to learn that his mother had stumbled on an article that implied the actor had been shot dead.
"When she called, she asked, who is speaking? Who is talking? because she read an article on social media that OJ, a Tahidi High actor, was among a gang that was gunned down for theft," he stated.
“Why would you wake up in the morning with a goal of disrupting someone's life," he posed.
The actor called upon bloggers and internet users to be wary of sharing fake news, informing that families of the affected suffered the consequences.
OJ is just one of the many celebrities who have witnessed cyberbullying on social media platforms.
Before his death on July 18, 2020, Charles Bukeko known to many as Papa Shirandula, advised the youth to use the internet as a platform to build careers rather than attacking others.
"I have been rumored to be dead seven times now. It is just sad especially for people who sincerely care about me like my family members. It is a curse for anyone to do that," the late Shirandula stated in an interview with Radio Citizen in August, 2019.
The government has moved to fight the propagation of fake news by stipulating stiff penalties for anyone found guilty of the crime.
Earlier in 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta enacted the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill, 2017 providing a two-year jail term or Ksh5 million fine for spreading fake news.
“A person who intentionally publishes false, misleading or fictitious data or misinforms with the intent that the data shall be considered or acted upon as authentic, with or without any financial gain, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both,” reads clause 12 of the new law.
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