By Lucy Mwangi and Jacob Nyukuri
A filter bubble is an online phenomenon where individuals are exposed only to an array information and perspectives that align with their pre-existing beliefs and biases. This is often due to algorithms used by search engines, social media platforms, and other online services that personalise the content users see based on their previous behaviour and interests.
Filter bubbles reinforces existing beliefs and biases. When people are only exposed to information that confirms what they already believe and know, the ability to question the accuracy or reliability of that information is limited. And in essence this makes them more prone to false or misleading information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs.
Filter bubbles also create what is referred to as echo chambers, where people are only exposed to a narrow range of opinions and perspectives. The exposure leads to inability to look at alternative viewpoints and information, and it further reinforces existing beliefs and biases.
From media monitoring perspective, users online tend to easily share information that confirms their beliefs with their social networks, which can further amplify the spread of misinformation within filter bubbles. This further creates an ecosystem where false information is circulated among like-minded individuals, making it more difficult to correct.
- An image shared ofn Facebook purporting to show the Kenyattas multibillion-shilling Northlands estate was false. The image shared was not of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family’s property, Northlands farm in Kiambu County’s Kamakis on the Eastern Bypass. According to a reverse image search, the image shared is of Northlands Golf Course in North Vancouver, BC V7G 2S7, Canada, and was first posted on the golf course’s Twitter account on November 12, 2022.
2. A video shared on Twitter by former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko of a woman purported to be the wife of a Congolese army lieutenant general dragging her husband, whom she accuses of cheating, was misleading. A reverse search reveals that the footage shared is from The Conquest, a Congolese film that is uploaded in the form of episodes on Dinana YouTube channel. The specific episode was posted on YouTube on March 29, from minute 22:43 to minute 24:22. We also discovered that Lieutenant General Christian Tshiwewe Songesha is the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the title given to the commander of the DRC’s armed forces, and that he is not the person allegedly dragged in the video shared.
3. The claim that Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s goons set fire to retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s hotel in Kirinyaga was false. The video on Facebook showing a burning building is that of the Barracuda Inn, an Italian resort in Watamu, Kilifi County, and was destroyed in February. The incident at the Watamu hotel was first reported in an article by Il Mattino, an Italian daily newspaper published in Naples. We also discovered an article published by The Star on February 22, in which property worth millions of shillings was reduced to ashes due to an electric fault following a massive fire that gutted three resorts in Watamu tourism resort town of Kilifi County.
4. An image circulated on Twitter purporting to portray the Azimio parliamentary group’s press conference at the Kalonzo Command Centre was misleading. The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition leaders photo is not recent. Former Kisii Governor James Ongwae can be seen in the image, but he left Azimio and joined the Kenya Kwanza Alliance in September 2022.A reverse image search revealed that the image was first shared in an article by Nation Africa on August 24, 2022, as former Suba North MP John Mbadi met with Azimio legislators elect at a press briefing following a service at ACK St Francis Karen in Nairobi, ahead of the election of speakers of Parliament.
5. A TikTok video purportedly showing Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua acknowledging William Ruto as President was misleading. A reverse search reveals that the video was shared on KBC Channel 1’s YouTube channel on May 26, 2022, during the 19th National Prayer Breakfast, an annual ecumenical event organised by the Speakers of the Senate and the National Assembly. Then Deputy President Ruto broke protocol from minute 2:03:15 of the video by inviting Karua to address those in attendance on behalf of Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga, who was not present.
6. Leaders disseminated false information to the public by using images of other events. For example, a claim made in a tweet by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei that a cow owned by President William Ruto calved triplets was misleading. A reverse image search reveals that the image was first uploaded on Facebook on January 30, 2023 by CRV Deutschland GmbH, an organisation dedicated to improving cattle herds worldwide, when a cow belonging to two brothers gave birth to three calves without problems.
