In the wake of coronavirus outbreaks across Africa, a Kenyan man has been charged with spreading misleading and alarming information – essentially fake news – on social media.
Taking to Twitter, 23-year-old Elijah Muthui Kitonyo published a tweet where he (1) claimed to be working at the International Airport where the first confirmed COVID-19 case had entered and (2) that the Kenyan government were lying about the status of the case.
In an official statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kitonyo will be charged with publishing false and calculated information that could result in a panic – infringing on section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018.
Elijah Muthui Kitonyo aged 23 years has been arrested in Mwingi for publishing misleading and alarming information on Corona virus.
He will be charged for publishing false information that is calculated or results in panic contrary to section 23 of the Computer Misuse…
/1 pic.twitter.com/qH9PBVoS8n— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) March 15, 2020
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