President William Ruto announced on Wednesday that Kenya has reached agreements with global digital platforms, including YouTube, X.com (formerly Twitter), and Facebook, to allow Kenyan youth to monetize the content they create on these platforms.
According to the Head of State, the agreements are part of the government’s efforts to create opportunities for young people and to help them turn their talents into livelihoods.
He noted that the government has been engaging with the leadership of these platforms to find ways to make it easier for Kenyans to earn money from their content.
The President spoke at the 95th Kenya Music Festival Winners’ State Concert in Nakuru County, where he also lauded the participants for their incredible performances.
President Ruto further revealed that on Thursday he will have talks with the global Chief Executive Officer of TikTok Shou Zi Chew on content moderation and monetization.
“Tomorrow morning, I will be speaking to the global CEO of TikTok so that we can agree on a mechanism to moderate content on their space so that we can reduce the negative content and leverage on monetization that will benefit a lot more people.”
The move follows the current pressure in the country to have the app banned following viral explicit content being shared.
According to President Ruto, the negative content can be minimized and more focus put on monetization.
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) was also tasked to digitize all music festival performances within a month and run a monetized YouTube channel.
The country’s first in command further said plans are underway to revamp and rename the Permanent Presidential Music Commission to the Creative Commission of Kenya.
The commission will have professional studios in every county to give opportunities to every artist, he added.