Sexual content on TikTok: Kenya launches formal probe
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Kenya has launched a formal inquiry into allegations that TikTok profited from sexual content on livestreams that involved children.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), in a public notice on Thursday, said that it is also directing TikTok to pull down all adult content involving minors from the platform, including on livestreams.
This follows a damning report published by the BBC on March 3, 2025, which alleged that TikTok is profiting from sexual livestreams performed by teens as young as 15 in Kenya.
In its exposé, the British broadcaster said it spoke to three women in Kenya who said they began the activity as teenagers, adding that they used TikTok to openly advertise and negotiate payment for more explicit content that would be sent via other messaging platforms.
The BBC also revealed that while TikTok bans solicitation, moderators on the platform admitted that the firm knows it takes place and takes a cut of about 70 percent of all livestream transactions.
Livestreams from Kenya are popular on TikTok - each night over the course of a week, we found up to a dozen in which women performers danced suggestively, watched by hundreds of people around the world.
The CA, mandated to regulate the country’s communications sector, says these new allegations suggest that significant gaps remain in TikTok’s enforcement of its own policies against solicitation and exploitation.
“The report alleges the involvement of minors in the sale of sexual content via livestreams on TikTok, with the platform reportedly retaining a significant commission from the content,” the regulator said.
“These allegations raise serious issues regarding the exploitation of vulnerable individuals, including children, and the adequacy of content moderation on digital platforms operating within Kenya.”
The Authority has announced that it is, as such, directing TikTok to explain how offensive content is able to bypass its content moderation mechanisms, in addition to presenting a plan to show how it intends to enhance the established mechanisms to strengthen child protection on the platform.
Among the legal instruments established in Kenya for child protection include the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, which criminalises online child exploitation and prescribes penalties for offenders, and the Films and Stage Plays Act which mandates the Kenya Film and Classification Board (KFCB) to regulate and classify content to protect minors.
Others are the Children Act (Cap 141) which aligns with international standards on child rights as well as the Data Protection Act (Cap 411C), which demands that the personal data of children is safeguarded from exploitation.
kmwangi@ke.nationmedia.com