National Inteligence Service (NIS) Director General, Noordin Haji, has again cautioned members of the public against misusing social media platforms, terming it a huge threat to national and regional security.

Speaking during the Mashariki Cooperation Conference in Naivasha, Nakuru County on Thursday, April 3, Haji noted that the rise of social media misuse could distabilise the country and plunge it into unrest. 

Addressing a security delegation, the NIS boss maintained that the misuse of social media remained a huge threat to national security, as most people used the platform to fuel misinformation and incite violence.

He reiterated that while free speech remained a cornerstone of democracy, there needed to be a balance between free speech and national security.

“Across the continent, we have seen a considerable increase in the use of social media platforms for advocacy and mobilization for civil actions. However, this has led to the emergence of coordinated and sustained misinformation and disinformation,” Haji stated.

“The misinformation and disinformation are aimed at misguiding citizens, leading them to make poor decisions and shaping their perceptions of their governments,” he added. 

The two-day meeting, attended by high-profile security officials from across the continent, focused on emerging security threats and sought to improve collaboration between African nations in intelligence sharing and response strategies.

His sentiments were echoed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who cautioned the youth against the misuse of social media to spread hate and inflammatory narratives, reiterating that such vices posed a threat to national unity.

"Issues of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence to spread disinformation, spread inflammatory rhetoric, and perpetuate technology-related threats such as cyber fraud are of great concern to us," Murkomen said.

Meanwhile, Haji’s latest statement comes barely a week after he raised similar concerns about the escalating misuse of digital platforms to incite violence in the country. 

Speaking at the National Intelligence Research conference at the University of Nairobi on March 28, Haji likened the spread of false information to the nationwide anti-government protests witnessed in June last year.

"The recent developments, particularly the Gen Z protests, demonstrated the destabilizing effect of digital activism, which tested our political, economic, and security resilience," Haji stated. By Timothy Cerullo, Kenyans.co.ke