In recent months, East Africa has found itself at the epicenter of a rapidly escalating struggle between youth-led pro-democracy activism and increasingly coordinated state repression. At the heart of this regional drama are Kenyan activists, whose digital savvy and cross-border solidarity have both inspired hope for democratic renewal and triggered an aggressive crackdown by governments determined to maintain their grip on power.
On November 20, 2025, Amnesty International released a damning report accusing the Kenyan government of weaponizing technology to suppress its own Gen Z protestors during demonstrations in 2024 and 2025. According to Amnesty, the state’s tactics included tech-facilitated violence, enforced disappearances, online harassment, and unlawful surveillance. The report estimated that, across protests in June 2024 and July 2025, at least 128 people were killed, 3,000 arrested, and more than 83 activists forcibly disappeared. "Tech-facilitated violence against young activists in Kenya shows how governments and allied groups are increasingly weaponizing digital platforms to stifle protests, as part of a broader strategy to shut down digitally organized dissent," said Victor Odede, head of programmes at Amnesty International Kenya.
These protests were sparked by mounting frustrations over rising taxes, economic hardship, corruption, and violent policing. Initially, social media platforms empowered young Kenyans to mobilize against the contested 2024 Finance Bill, but these same platforms soon became battlegrounds. Amnesty’s report documents how activists were tracked, intimidated, and targeted by state-linked actors. Thirty-one young human rights defenders described to Amnesty a campaign of online threats, doxing, gender-based harassment, and coordinated disinformation. Many received direct threats through X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp—sometimes even targeting their families. One Mombasa-based activist had to transfer her child to another school after anonymous messages revealed her child’s personal information, including class and school bus number. Another commentator recounted threats from a man impersonating a police officer.
Behind much of the digital harassment, Amnesty identified state-linked blogger networks known as "527 bloggers." These groups allegedly coordinated online attacks, spread false information, and created counter-hashtags to drown out protest messaging. Activists were smeared as "foreign agents," "commercial activists," or "liars." "X, formerly Twitter, is central to pro-government networks spreading disinformation and smear campaigns. These networks mass-post identical messages repeatedly to hijack the platform’s algorithm and amplify government-sponsored messaging," said Odede. An influencer interviewed by Amnesty admitted to being part of a WhatsApp-organized network of about 20 individuals, each paid between Sh25,000 and Sh50,000 per day to promote pro-government narratives during major protests.
The surveillance didn’t stop online. Activists accused Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom provider, of granting security agencies access to call data and location records without court orders—allegations the company denies. Yet, a 2025 court case revealed that call tracing in a student’s arrest was done without judicial authorization. The expansion of surveillance, including facial recognition cameras in Nairobi, has heightened public anxiety and given police unprecedented ability to track protesters and online influencers. Young women and LGBTI activists faced the harshest digital violence, including misogynistic attacks, AI-generated sexual images, and coordinated homophobic campaigns. Many now self-censor, citing safety concerns, mental health strain, and the risk of abduction.
Amnesty International has called for an immediate halt to tech-facilitated state violence, independent investigations into enforced disappearances and killings, and legal reforms to curb abuse of cybercrime laws. The organization also urges X and Safaricom to strengthen human rights safeguards.
But the fight for democracy in East Africa is not contained by borders. Following Tanzania’s disputed election in November 2025—marred by allegations of vote-rigging and the exclusion of opposition candidates—young Kenyan activists attempted to cross the Namanga border in solidarity. Their efforts were met with violent police response, including tear gas. At least two Kenyan nationals reportedly died in the clashes, adding to hundreds of Tanzanian victims. As Tanzanian authorities imposed an internet blackout, Kenyan media outlets and activists in Nairobi acted as an external press corps, amplifying suppressed voices and sharing graphic content that the Tanzanian government sought to hide.
Veteran Kenyan journalist Yassin Juma described the critical role played by Kenyan activists: "While violence was ongoing in Tanzania, Kenyan activists managed to organize themselves in Nairobi where they were meeting to tell the world what was happening in Tanzania, given that media in the country was not speaking about the incidents and the internet was totally blocked." This cross-border advocacy ensured that reports of security forces shooting protesters and concealing bodies did not vanish into digital darkness.
Kenyan Civil Society Organizations, such as the Kenya Human Rights Commission, also lobbied regional bodies like the African Union and East African Community (EAC) to hold Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan accountable. The EAC treaty explicitly calls for adherence to good governance, democracy, rule of law, human rights, and social justice as a condition of membership. Politician Martha Karua was particularly blunt in her criticism: "We are staring at a regional crisis. Not economic crisis. Not a crisis of trade, but of democracy itself. To the leaders of the EAC, you cannot speak of unity while jailing, abducting and torturing your own citizens, and criminalizing free movement of people, who are the very reasons why the Jumuiya (the Community) exists."
The cost of activism has been steep. Kenyan photojournalist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire were detained, beaten, and dumped at borders after observing a Tanzanian opposition trial. Reports indicate that security agencies in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are now coordinating repressive operations to silence critics and deter regional solidarity. Kenyan activist Bob Njagi, who was himself abducted in Uganda, told DW, "We realized that the three governments are collaborating between [Ugandan president] Museveni, our president [William] Ruto, and [Tanzanian president] Samia Suluhu. Our arrest was coordinated." Former Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Martha Karua were also detained and deported from Tanzania for attempting to observe a trial. Even Tanzanian activist Maria Sarungi narrowly escaped abduction in Nairobi by suspected security agents.
Meanwhile, political leaders are pushing back. On November 17, 2025, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu to act against Kenyan activists interfering in their countries’ politics. Cherargei stressed that while Kenyans enjoy close social and economic ties across the East African Community, "there is no agreement to export political activism." He urged the neighboring heads of state to "punish and send back home any activists meddling in their internal political affairs." His comments came just days after the release of Kenyan activists Nicholas Oyoo and Bob Njagi, who had been missing for over a month after reportedly joining opposition politician Bobi Wine’s campaign in Uganda. President Museveni accused the two of being "riot experts" working with the Ugandan opposition to organize unrest.
As Tanzanian Gen-Z protestors plan another mass protest on December 9, 2025—declaring it an independence day—Kenyan activists have pledged solidarity, calling for a "total shutdown" in Kenya as well. Whether these forces of regional solidarity can withstand the coordinated machinery of state repression remains to be seen, but the battle for democracy and accountability in East Africa is far from over.
