Researchers in Kenya have found that Twitter influencers have been paid to alter the debate
around the recent trove of leaked documents, known as the Pandora Papers, and a connection with the family of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Last month, investigative journalists found that Mr Kenyatta’s family had secretly owned a network of offshore companies for decades.
There was no accusation of wrongdoing and the president had responded by saying that financial transparency was important. He also promised a comprehensive response to what was revealed.
Nevertheless, Mr Kenyatta faced a lot of criticism and an investigation by Odanga Madung and Brian Obilo discovered people were used to cast a different light on the story.
“When the Pandora Papers were first released, Kenyan Twitter users were outraged that their president was implicated,” Mr Madung is quoted by the Mozilla Foundation, which backed the research, as saying.
“But like clockwork, an alternative sentiment quickly emerged, supporting the president and his offshore accounts. Some of the tweets promoting this alternative sentiment included outright lies. But other tweets were more nuanced: technically true, but clearly inauthentic and coordinated to feign public support.”
This report builds on earlier research of how Twitter is used to influence public opinion in Kenya.
Twitter has now suspended 230 accounts for violating its spam policies, the New York Times reports.