BBC Discovers Governments Don't Like Being Protested
According to Amnesty International, as reported by the BBC, Kenyan authorities paid trolls to threaten Gen Z activists. This is framed as a new outrage, but the playbook is ancient. When citizens rise up against tax hikes or kleptocracy, governments, particularly those receiving substantial foreign aid, often deploy disinformation and intimidation tactics. These are the same nations whose leaders
are frequently lauded as 'democratic partners' by institutions that profit from stability, no matter how it’s achieved. One might wonder if the methods employed—online harassment, coordinated attacks on dissent—aren't just a digitized version of tactics perfected long ago, often with tacit international approval. It's a convenient selective outrage; when Western allies (or their proxies) use these
methods, it's rarely given the same headline space. The outrage is less about the tactic itself and more about who is using it against whom. How many 'democratic' nations, including those lecturing Kenya, employ similar mechanisms to silence internal criticism or manage public perception when their own policies face scrutiny?