This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
On June 11, 2020, a group of editors, including yours truly, found themselves at the receiving end of vicious attacks on social media, accused of being toadies, factoti, sycophants, and generally in the pay of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
However, the real issue here is not the baseless accusations, but the fact that the defamation industry has become a formal extension of Kenyan corporate, political, and national security architecture.
As an editor, I believe it's bad form to sue for defamation. We should be willing to take a few knocks, just like we dish out to others. I've considered going to court, but I've resisted the urge to fight back.
The persons making allegations against editors are professional liars. I've not received gifts from anyone, and my interview with the President was totally free, like all news services at the Nation.
The point I'm making is that the blogger who attacks me on social media is well-informed and connected in the security sector, and they know what they're writing is false. The point of that writing is not the truth, but the furtherance of a mainly political and commercial agenda.
Defamation is no longer the product of carelessness or malice, but something more insidious and criminal. It's a symptom of incompetence, and it's not unusual for businesses to engage social media figures to intimidate and beat into submission customers.
Colleagues resort to planting defamation on social media to damage a workmate for career advantage, revenge, or just out of a lack of generosity of spirit. Figures in government plant disinformation on social media as a way of manipulation.
Big lawyers in town, PR companies, and even some security agencies have nasty bloggers on their payroll. Bloggers and influencers are replacing traditional PR in the manufacture of fake image.
Defamation is a shortcut; it's the product of failure to effectively manage one's interaction with the public. Dirty tricks are always a symptom of incompetence.
