Beatrice Elachi on Worst Social Media Experience: Losing Her Son

Dagoretti North MP, Beatrice Elachi has recounted how she went through the worst bullying experience of her life on social media when she lost her son.

Elachi shared this during a morning session on Citizen TV where she said social media users, especially youths, mocked her for losing her son, which hurt her the most.

“My worst experience is when you talked about my son, whom nobody knew. That was my worst, thank God I don’t read social media… but you know, sometimes families come to you and give you a story, and you wonder if it's on social media. But I thank God I never read,” Elachi recounted.

She also said that the other worst experience on social media came recently when they were walking the journey with the children of Kaspul MP Ong’ondo Were who shot dead.

From that experience, Elachi was left asking herself lots of questions about what the late MP’s kids go through after resuming normal life, right from grief.

“Why would we discuss his children? What will happen to these children when they go back to school? Does anyone ever think of that? That was the saddest thing,” Elachi said, adding that it’s time Kenya amends the Law about social media use.

The MP was dismayed by the tendency of Kenyans to take people's issues and turn them into topics of public interest on their social media without even seeking consent from the families concerned.

“When a family is bereaved, if they have not told you to talk about it, why should you post it on social media? Don’t you think another one might collapse in that family and die also? Have you ever thought how it tortures, especially when it happens abruptly?” Elachi raised pertinent concerns.

“We will have to sort this social media menace out by amending the law. You cannot just wake up in the morning, people are bereaved and you are the first one to break the news online, posting pictures and videos. Did you ask for consent? So, let’s put the law that if you wanna do something, justhave consent, let me sign the consent that I’ve allowed you to do a video on me. That has to stop,” she added.

Elachi's son perished in a road accident in late March this year, and what followed was a series of unfortunate events online, where some users, especially on X, mocked the young man's death and appeared to mock MP Elachi without regard for the situation she was going through at that time of grief.

On May 28th during the National Prayer Breakfast, Elachi’s prayer aroused debate online, where she appeared to lament about the conduct of Kenyan youths on social media on matters of gambling, rebellion, and addiction to adult content.

“We have left our young people in helplessness, in gambling, and it is in us to change that. We became parents who were unable to. We felt that it was good for our children to be who they are. Today, they have rebelled.”