Amnesty International says Kenyan authorities paid trolls to threaten activists

Kenyan authorities paid trolls to threaten and intimidate young protesters during recent anti-government demonstrations, Amnesty International said.

Government agencies also used surveillance and disinformation to target organizers of mass protests that rocked Kenya in 2024 and 2025, a new report from the human rights group said.

The demonstrations were largely driven by “Generation Z” activists, who used social media platforms to mobilize.

Responding to the Amnesty International report, Kenya’s interior minister said the government “will not sanction harassment or violence against any citizen.”

But Amnesty International said it had uncovered a campaign of “silencing and repression” of protesters.

Young women and LGBT+ activists were disproportionately targeted, including misogynistic and homophobic comments, as well as AI-generated pornographic images, the report said.

The BBC has contacted the government for further comment.

One activist told Amnesty International: “Someone came into my inbox and told me: ‘You will die and leave your children. We will come and attack you’.”

“I even had to change my child’s school. I was sent my child’s name, age… school bus number plate. They told me: ‘If you keep doing what you’re doing, then we’ll take care of this child for you’.”

The government has long been thought to employ a network of individuals known as “keyboard warriors” to push its messages online.

One man in the report said he was part of a group paid between 25,000 and 50,000 Kenyan shillings (about $190 to $390; £145 to £300) a day to amplify government messages and drown out popular protest hashtags on social media platform X.

As part of the research, Amnesty International interviewed 31 young human rights defenders who took part in the protests. Nine of the activists said they had received violent threats via Facebook, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp.

In addition to digital abuses, authorities have been accused of a brutal crackdown on protests.

Rights groups say more than 100 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters during two waves of demonstrations, one in 2024 and the other in 2025.

Authorities have also been accused of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and the use of lethal force against protesters.

The government acknowledged that some police officers used excessive force, but Also defended security forces in other contexts.

Demonstrations were held against proposed tax increases, an increase in femicide and corruption, among other issues.

Amnesty International president Agnès Callamard said the organization’s report “clearly demonstrates widespread and coordinated tactics across digital platforms to silence and repress protests by young activists”.

“Our research also demonstrates that these campaigns are driven by state-sponsored trolls, individuals and networks who spend money to promote pro-government messages and dominate daily trends on KenyaX,” she added.

Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchuba Mulkomen said: “The Kenyan government will not sanction harassment or violence against any citizen… Any official involved in illegal behavior should be held personally accountable and subject to investigation and sanctions.”

Amnesty International has also raised concerns about illegal state surveillance, including allegations that authorities used mobile data to monitor protest leaders, a charge denied by Kenya’s largest telecoms provider Safaricom.