Kenyan influencers hired for 'Twitter constitutional amendment boosting operation' for 1600 yen a day

A research team from the Mozilla Foundation , known for its Firefox browser and others, has discovered that a 'Twitter trending tactic' is being carried out regarding the ongoing constitutional amendment debate in Kenya. It turns out that influencers who participated in this operation were paid $ 10 to $ 15 a day, but the person / organization that paid it is unknown.

Report_Inside_the_shadowy_world_of_disinformation_for_hire_in_Kenya_5._hcc.pdf
(PDF file) https://assets.mofoprod.net/network/documents/Report_Inside_the_shadowy_world_of_disinformation_for_hire_in_Kenya_5._hcc.pdf

Mozilla Foundation --Fellow Research: Inside the Shadowy World of Disinformation-for-hire in Kenya
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/fellow-research-inside-the-shadowy-world-of-disinformation-for-hire-in-kenya/

“Disinformation influencers” for hire, only $ 15 a day --Rest of World
https://restofworld.org/2021/kenya-disinformation-bbi-judiciary/

2020, Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta regime, the revision of the revision and the Cabinet system of governance system, revision of the electoral system, project to revise the 78 items of the Kenya Constitution, such as penalties strengthening of corruption and Anticorruption Law ' Building Bridges Initiative ( BBI) ”was launched.

President and opposition leader propose to introduce prime minister system including constitutional amendment (Kenya) | Business brief report --JETRO
https://www.jetro.go.jp/biznews/2020/11/7383956516fded3d.html

The items to be amended by the BBI spanned 13 of the 18 chapters of the Kenyan Constitution, which attracted a great deal of attention in Kenya. 'We have no authority to initiate. Only Congress has the authority to initiate constitutional amendment.' The BBI has ordered it to be illegal and invalid. In response, the Kenyatta administration filed an appeal, but the following two trials also supported the first trial decision. In September 2021, the Attorney General filed an objection to the Supreme Court, dissatisfied with the second-instance decision.

The Mozilla Foundation's research team has announced on Twitter that during the Kenyan BBI turmoil, 'a strategy to attack journalists, judiciary and citizens to support BBI was underway.' is. According to the research team, at least 11 BBI support operations were deployed during the survey period from May to June 2021. The total number of participating accounts was 3,700, and the total number of tweets was 23,000. An example of a tweet is below, which is unfounded that Kenya's Vice President William Root was funding civilian activists against the BBI.

Its was quite an easy task stopping reggae. No sweat, just a good plan and perfect execution #WhyRutoStoppedBBI pic.twitter.com/Z0YtpJ4IIq

— CHEROH ???? (@Nairobian_bae) May 21, 2021

Eight of the 11 confirmed BBI support operations have been trending on Twitter, including influencers in Kenya, celebrity spoofing accounts, and sexy images of women on their profiles. Many bot accounts have been confirmed to earn followers.

According to an interview survey conducted by the research team with influencers who participated in BBI support operations, it seems that if you participate in three operations a day, you will receive a reward of 10 to 15 dollars, considering the average monthly income of Kenya and the effort of tweeting. 'Profitable business'. It seems that these fees were paid through M-PESA , a mobile payment service that boasts an overwhelming share in Kenya, but the person / organization that made the payment is unknown.

'In this turmoil, Twitter isn't doing anything. Malicious people run fake accounts, create fake engagements, and trend on Twitter,' said Brian Obiro, a research team. He hijacks the algorithm and controls millions of Kenyans. ' In response to this announcement, Twitter is taking action against more than 100 Kenyan accounts that have violated platform operations and spam policies.