In the Reuters Institute Digital News Reports 2023 survey, researchers found that 29% of the Kenyans asked had used TikTok for news in the past week. Overall, 54% of Kenyans used the social media app.
Among the countries surveyed, Thailand was the second country with the highest adoption rate at 51%, followed by South Africa at 50%. TikTok is growing fastest in parts of Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America.
The report further noted that the last year’s election period in Kenya coincided with a rapid growth of Kenyans using TikTok for news.
According to the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, TikTok became the platform where fake polls and videos were disseminated and it also faced criticism for spreading misinformation.
While Facebook remains one of the most-used social networks, the report also notes that its usage is declining.
Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram are the only networks to have grown in the last year.
Additionally, people said they pay more attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities as opposed to journalists.
The study is an annual report that aims to understand how news is being consumed in a range of countries, and included samples from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
