Senior government officials have been engaging Kenyans on crucial public affairs issues through social media without guidelines, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed, amid plans to control what they say on the digital platforms.
The PSC reveals that 402 of the 508 institutions in the public service lack social media policy guidelines, even as they continue to engage citizens through the platforms.
The continued use of the platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, X, podcasts and blogs to communicate, the PSC notes, poses a problem in information management and data protection.
“It was established that 106 (20.87 percent) institutions had developed social media policy guidelines, while 402 (79.13 percent) had not. None of the ministries and state departments have developed the policy guidelines,” the PSC notes in a report on values in the public service.
The revelation that no ministry or State department has developed guidelines on engagement in social media casts, a spotlight on Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and Principal Secretaries (PSs) who have been engaging Kenyans through the platforms on critical public affairs issues, often contradicting themselves.
Senior government officials led by President William Ruto, his deputy Kithure Kindiki and CSs have been updating Kenyans regarding different public affairs issues through social media platforms and the PSC now wants the State to set some guidelines for them.
“The State department responsible for communication and broadcasting to develop social media engagement guidelines for public officers by June 30,2025,” the PSC recommended.
The PSC notes that while the majority of the public service institutions that have not developed the guidelines plan to do so by the end of June this year, there is need for a central set of guidelines on the issue.
The commission notes that social media has increasingly become an important means of communication in the public service.
It said that for institutions that had not developed the policy, 288 (72 percent) indicated that they would develop the policy guidelines by June 30, 2025 while 77 (19 percent) plan to do so by the end of March. Thirty-six institutions have not made any commitment regarding when they would develop the policy, with the majority of Kenyans engaging through WhatsApp, Facebook, X and other mass-audience platforms.
During the year to June 2023, the PSC had recommended that all public institutions develop guidelines for using social media, as it increasingly grew into a platform through which Kenyans are not only communicating but also seeking feedback on public services.
“The increased use of the platforms without regulations or policy guidelines poses a problem in information management and data protection,” the PSC says.