Kenyan authorities have instructed social media app TikTok to demonstrate how it is adhering to local privacy and user verification laws.

In a statement on Thursday, the African nation’s interior minister Kithure Kindiki said that the platform had been used to spread propaganda, fraud and sexual content.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Kindiki said: "The government, through the office of the Data Protection Commissioner, has contacted TikTok and raised concerns relating to its processing activities.”

He added that the app has been used "to spread malicious propaganda, steal popular accounts through identity theft and impersonation" and to "conduct fraud by duping Kenyans into fake forex trades and fake job recruitments".

These factors, Kindiki warned, “have caused distress among users, exposed minors to inappropriate content and promoted discord among citizens.”

ByteDance-owned TikTok has drawn fire from regulators and lawmakers from across the globe. Three units of the company were fined €10 million last week by Italy’s competition watchdog for inadequate checks on content that is potentially harmful to minors.

The platform’s greatest existential threat however comes from the US, where the House of Representatives have passed a draft bill which orders the Chinese ByteDance to divest its business or risk being banned in the US. The governor of Montana signed legislation in mid-2023 which banned the app, though a US judge blocked this on grounds of free speech infringement.

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