With the advent of technology, came social media which have presented major challenges. One of such challenges is how to deal with individuals who hide behind fake handles and pages, otherwise known as parody accounts.
Twitter has laid down parody policies that users must abide by before going ahead to create an account. For example, the policy says that the bio should indicate that the user is not affiliated with the account subject by stating a word such as “parody,” “fake,” “fan,” or “commentary,” and be done so in a way that would be understood by the intended audience and the account name should not be the exact name of the account subject without some other distinguishing word, such as “not,” “fake,” or “fan,” and be done so in a way that would be understood by the intended audience.
While the user is clearly marked as parody, the followers will not really beware of this simple fact. Some have gone ahead to dupe unsuspecting users. Note that official accounts have blue verification tick.This may not apply in all case though.
Here are some of the parody accounts in Kenya. Beware!
Kindly note the double “a” at the end.The account was supposedly created in 2015 probably as a parody of the official handle of Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta whose account is @UKenyatta with a blue verification tick.
This is another notorious account that is largely confused with the official handle of the President, @UKenyatta.Bio reads resident of The Republic of #Kenya. Is He Available?One can easily think this is the official one for it is very active,always reweeting and tweeting government events.
The account bio simply reads very Brief 24-Year Stint as Kenya’s 2nd President | Staunch Sunday Church Goer | Rungu Collector (1000+) | You can call me Baba. Paroty Haggound. It majorly posts hilarious tweets offering comic relief to his followers.It was created in 2016 January.
This purports to be Bungoma Senator Moses Masika Wetangula’s twitter handle.Note the (‘) between “g’’ and “u”. The account became notorious after the said senator was involved in a domestic brawl with his wife.
Another fake account that is confused with Lilian Muli’s official handle @Lilian_muli
A Facebook page that was disowned by KTN TVs news anchor Betty Kylo who runs Betty Mutei Kyalo as her official one. This parody page normally post links to blogposts.The TV queen reported it but nothing is coming.
The page is not in anyway associated with the TV star.
8. William Samoei Ruto @WilliamRutoh
Twitter handle is not managed by the deputy president William Ruto. His verified account is@WilliamsRuto
