The Government made 35 requests for user data in 2024, targeting 55 user accounts across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, this is according to Meta’s latest Transparency Centre report on government requests.

The report that was released on Thursday, June 12, 2025, ranks Kenya seventh among African countries seeking information from the tech giant.

Of the 35 total requests from Kenya, seven were classified as emergency disclosures, while the rest were related to legal processes. The report shows that Meta did not always comply with the government’s appeals for data, often due to legal insufficiencies.

In the first half of 2024 (January to June), Kenya made 23 requests, of which 19 were legal process requests and four were emergencies, affecting 37 accounts. Meta complied, at least partially, with 43.5 per cent of those.

Between July and December, Kenya made 12 requests, nine legal and three emergency, targeting 18 accounts. The compliance rate dropped to 33 per cent during this period.

“Meta responds to government requests for data by applicable law and our terms of service. Every request we receive is carefully reviewed for legal sufficiency, and we may reject or require greater specificity on requests that appear overly broad or vague,” reads the report.

Since 2014, Kenya has consistently reached out to Meta for user data, with fluctuating levels of compliance. In 2023, the government made 15 requests involving 31 accounts. The year 2022 recorded 23 requests targeting 39 users, while in 2021, the country submitted 25 requests, its highest yet, targeting 114 accounts. In 2020, Kenya made 33 requests concerning 53 accounts.

Resctricting contents

Meta noted that between July 2022 and June 2023, it restricted access to one piece of content in Kenya following a report that it violated local laws.

In earlier years, the requests were fewer: 11 in 2019, nine in 2018, eight in 2017, one in 2016, five in 2015 and two in 2014.

Compared to its East African neighbours in 2024, Uganda made only two requests, Tanzania and South Sudan made one each, while Ethiopia and Somalia made none. Morocco topped the continent with 1,188 requests, followed by Tunisia (121), Libya (68), Algeria (54), Ghana (38) and South Africa (36).

Outside Africa, the United States submitted the highest number of data requests globally at 156,556, followed by the United Kingdom with 21,684.

Meta also highlighted the nature of global content restrictions in the report.

“When something on Facebook, Instagram, or Threads is reported to us as violating local law but does not go against our Community Standards, we may restrict the content’s availability in the country where it is alleged to be illegal,” the report notes.

Globally, Meta noted it had complied with two extraterritorial content takedown orders between July 2023 and December 2024, one from Brazil and another from Austria. In both cases, content was restricted worldwide following court rulings.

“While we respect the law in countries where we operate, we strongly oppose any extraterritorial legal demands and actively pursue all available options to appeal such orders,” Meta said.