Using social media to promote police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

The report finds that while social media engagement alone achieves limited results in promoting police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, it serves as a valuable tool for documenting misconduct and mobilising the public. Analysis shows a general net negative sentiment towards police in all three countries, though the nature of engagement varies: Kenyans and Ugandans frequently tag official police handles, whereas Tanzanians rely more on activist profiles due to a more repressive environment. The study highlights that police responsiveness on social media directly correlates with improved public sentiment, though overall response rates remain very low.

• Social media engagement in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda has limited standalone success in promoting police accountability but remains a valuable tool for the effort.
• The proportion of the African population discussing police behaviour on social media is currently small but is expected to grow as mobile connectivity improves and the public recognizes its utility for demanding government accountability.
• In Kenya, strategic social media campaigns by civil society, such as the #FreeHuruma12 movement, have successfully mobilised the public and achieved tangible results, including the release of wrongfully arrested activists.
• Public sentiment towards the police was net negative across all three studied countries during the research period.
• Police responsiveness to social media posts is generally very low, but when they do engage, there is a direct positive impact on public perception.
• In Tanzania, the space for online accountability is severely restricted by government regulations and a lack of police responsiveness, leading the public to direct conversations toward activist profiles rather than official police handles.
• In Uganda, the use of personal accounts by high-ranking officers, such as Assistant Inspector General of Police Asan Kasingye, has been effective in driving positive public engagement and mitigating risk through direct communication.
• Government measures, including Uganda's social media tax and Tanzania's online content regulations, serve to contain the impact of social media as a mechanism for public accountability.

APA

Sigsworth, R. (2019). Using social media to promote police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-31.pdf

Chicago

Sigsworth, Romi. Using social media to promote police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Institute for Security Studies, 2019. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-31.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sigsworth |first1=Romi |title=Using social media to promote police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=December 2019 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-31.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sigsworth2019using, author = {Sigsworth, Romi}, title = {{Using social media to promote police accountability in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-31.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }