ABSTRACT

This article examines how social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp) were used to spread disinformation and cyber propaganda during the 2017 general elections in Kenya. The 2017 general elections in Kenya were some of the most competitive, tense and elicited very active use of digital media by political leaders and citizens alike. This increased online activity brought with it alleged increased spread of disinformation, “fake news” and cyber propaganda, which cast a shadow on the integrity of the election outcome. In March, 2018, details emerged of the claims by Cambridge Analytica that it had engineered a digital campaign that painted Uhuru Kenyatta in positive light while smearing the image of his main rival, Raila Odinga, behind the scenes. The contested results for the two presidential elections in August and October were largely dismissed as “fake computer-generated results” due to the alleged cyber propaganda and the extensive spread of disinformation. Data were collected through a qualitative content analysis of some of the texts circulated on social media. The guiding research question was: How were social media platforms used to spread disinformation and cyber propaganda during the 2017 general elections in Kenya?

摘要

本文探讨了在2017年肯尼亚大选期间如何使用社交媒体平台（Twitter，Facebook和WhatsApp）传播虚假信息和网络宣传。2017年在肯尼亚举行的大选是最激烈，最紧张的选举，引发了政治领导人和公民的积极使用数字媒体。在线活动的增加带来了虚假信息，“假新闻”和网络宣传的传播，这给选举结果的完整性蒙上了阴影。2018年3月，剑桥分析公司（Cambridge Analytica）的说法浮出水面，它声称设计了一个数字战役，以积极的眼光描绘了乌胡鲁·肯雅塔（Uhuru Kenyatta），同时在幕后涂抹了他的主要竞争对手莱拉·奥丁加（Rara Odinga）的形象。由于所谓的网络宣传和虚假信息的广泛传播，8月和10月两次总统选举的有争议的结果在很大程度上被视为“伪造的计算机生成的结果”。通过对在社交媒体上传播的一些文本的定性内容分析，收集了数据。指导性研究问题是：在2017年肯尼亚大选期间，社交媒体平台如何用于传播虚假信息和网络宣传？