Kenyans can now access livestreams on elections after Google and Storyful launched a dedicated channel on YouTube to curate content across the video-streaming site.
According to Google, the channel has been necessitated by the desire to stimulate debate and promote understanding of political issues and trends among the electorate.
Google’s policy and government relations manager Ory Okolloh said it remains the company’s primary focus to provide access around the elections are aimed at organising information and making it easy to reach.
“Through the launch of the YouTube channel, Kenyans will now be able to follow the latest news and trends on the political scene and engage with each other. Information drives the decisions we make on a day to day basis, and we remain committed to and are keen on sharing as much of it as possible with Kenyans,” she said.
The launch of the channel comes weeks after Google launched a Web portal designed to help voters, journalists and politicians to easily track news, trends and information related to the elections.
“The online space is an increasingly important tool for outreach, engagement and reflection during the political process. Platforms such as YouTube will become key to leaders vying for elective positions as well as voters looking for specific information,” said Storyful’s managing director Markham Nolan.
With just a month to the general election, and with many sources of information, some of which might not be credible, Google says the channel is more important than ever.
