Amnesty International has revealed that Kenyan authorities allegedly funded a network of trolls to threaten and intimidate young protesters during recent anti-government demonstrations. The human rights organization’s report highlights the use of surveillance, disinformation, and digital abuse to target organizers of mass protests that swept Kenya in 2024 and 2025. These demonstrations, largely driven by Gen Z activists, utilized social media platforms for mobilization. The report also disclosed that young women and LGBT+ activists faced disproportionate targeting, including misogynistic and homophobic comments, as well as AI-generated pornographic images. One activist shared harrowing experiences of receiving death threats and being forced to relocate their child due to targeted intimidation. Additionally, a man claimed he was part of a team paid between 25,000 and 50,000 Kenyan shillings daily to amplify government messaging and suppress protest hashtags on social media platform X. Beyond digital abuse, authorities were accused of a brutal crackdown on protests, resulting in over 100 deaths, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and the use of lethal force. While the government acknowledged some cases of excessive police force, it defended its security forces in other instances. Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard emphasized the report’s findings as evidence of state-sponsored efforts to silence dissent. Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen denied government involvement in harassment or violence, stating that any implicated officers would face investigation. Amnesty also raised concerns about unlawful state surveillance, including allegations of mobile data misuse, which Kenya’s largest telecom provider, Safaricom, has denied.