In a parliamentary deliberation on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, Members of Parliament moved to regulate TikTok following a petition calling for a total ban over concerns that the app exposes young people to explicit content and undermines cultural and religious values.
The petition, filed on August 15, 2023, by Bob Ndolo, Executive Officer of Bridget Connect Consultancy, urged MPs to act swiftly to ban the platform.
Ndolo argued that TikTok exposes young people to sexual content, violence, hate speech, vulgar language, and other offensive behaviours, posing a serious threat to cultural and religious norms.
Members of Parliament opted for regulation rather than an outright ban, with the Public Petitions Committee noting that banning TikTok would infringe on fundamental rights and hinder digital economic growth.
“The total ban of TikTok is not tenable,” Committee Chair and Ruyenjes Member of Parliament (MP) Karemba Muchangi said, adding that social media has become an essential tool for communication, creativity, and entrepreneurship among the youth.
Seconding the motion, the Ruaraka MP Tom Joseph Kajwang’, emphasized Parliament’s constitutional mandate to oversee matters affecting citizens, including digital platforms.
“The question of TikTok is an important discussion which we must have,” began Kajwang, before adding that the constitution had given leaders the mandate to provide oversight.
As a result, Kajwang went on to cite mental health challenges linked to excessive social media use, alleged data privacy violations, and the growing trend of social isolation among teenagers as key concerns justifying the TikTok regulation.
The MP argued that these issues were no longer speculative but visible in society, with countless youth spending extended hours online at the expense of real-world interactions and well-being.
The Committee directed the Ministry of Interior & National Administration and the Ministry of Information, Communication & the Digital Economy to collaborate on enhancing user protection and cybersecurity on social media platforms, including TikTok.
They will be required to report to the House within four months on measures to improve age verification, localise Kenyan user data, and establish local infrastructure for data security.
The ministries are also expected to implement digital literacy programs to raise awareness on data privacy, storage, processing, and social media community guidelines.
“The mechanisms for enhancement of age-verification on the social media platforms, the localisation of Kenyan user data to be retained within the country, such as the setting up of local infrastructure for data security by the platforms. The digital literacy programs to create awareness on data privacy, processing and storage and Community Guidelines by social media platforms, including TikTok,” read the resolutions.
Within the same four-month period, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) was tasked with engaging social media platforms to assess compliance with Kenyan laws, including the Data Protection Act 2019.
The ODPC will report to the relevant Parliamentary Committee on the effectiveness of age verification, content filtering, and Kenya-specific privacy terms.
Additionally, the Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation has been asked to propose amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications Act, CAP 411A, to empower the Communications Authority of Kenya to regulate social media platforms operating in the country.
The Ministry of ICT and the Digital Economy was also instructed to monitor social media platforms to address content moderation challenges.
This includes auditing artificial intelligence moderation systems to identify gaps, training algorithms in local languages, ensuring sufficient human moderators with psychosocial support, and providing clear reporting mechanisms for illegal or inappropriate content.
TikTok and other platforms without monetisation policies have also been asked to introduce mechanisms that allow Kenyan content creators to earn directly from their work.
The Parliamentary Committee stressed that a total ban on TikTok would infringe on fundamental rights and freedoms, and could limit the social and economic benefits of internet connectivity, especially as Kenya seeks to grow its digital economy.
“A ban of the social media platform would stifle social, and economic growth and the benefits of internet connectivity as the nation seeks to enhance its digital economy. However, the Committee recommends that social media platforms, including TikTok, be regulated and periodic compliance reviews by the relevant state agencies be institutionalised,” the resolution read.
The regulation of TikTok debate in the House postdates the social platform’s announcement that it had intensified its efforts to police content in Kenya, resulting in the removal of more than 580,000 videos between July and September 2025 for violating its Community Guidelines.
