Blogs are alternative media outlets which have the capacity to shape the overall social, political and economic views of the citizenry. For this reason, blog authors must be experts or professionals in the field they are blogging about. The blog author must publish factual, informative, engaging and objective information on the blog. Moreover, the blogger must adhere to the code of ethics that guides professional journalism. Bloggers must exercise prior restraint before they publish sensitive or alarming information, and gauge the value of their post vis-à-vis the projected consequences of publishing such information.
Unfortunately, a new genre of unprofessional bloggers has arisen in Kenya, and they mask themselves behind the facade of political and social blogs. These bloggers operate outside the formal frameworks of politics and media; and this has given them the latitude to form inherently biased blogs with the principal intentions of shaping voter behavior and manipulating the political leadership.
It is evident that some bloggers have used several legitimate social media communication platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to engage in acts of information war against the GoK and in extension, the Republic of Kenya. In the current context, information war is the offensive use of information or information systems to spread propaganda, libel and misinformation to the general citizenry and international audience.
Some unprofessional Kenyan bloggers and journalists have a strong penchant to posting partial, false, alarming and libelous posts with the intent of discrediting the GoK, prominent personalities associated with the GoK and other prominent personalities in the Republic. Moreover, some posts are overtly illegal since they contravene the constitution. There are actual cases of bloggers calling for the assassination of the President, infringing on the privacy of prominent personalities by revealing their private phone numbers; and even publishing libelous content. This group of bloggers who violate the constitution can be considered as criminal activists and they should face the law.
Prior to and during elections, biased bloggers can be used to spread false information, incite the public, foment seditious sentiments, discredit the government of the day and actively recruit followers for illegal causes. These biased bloggers can also be used as agents of influence to foment armed conflicts. For this reason, GoK must reign in on such unprofessional bloggers whose intentions are to undermine national security and hurt the country.
