*Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris have resulted in a renewed interest in a similar tragedy that occurred earlier this year in Kenya.
Toxcy.com notes the issue is currently trending on social media with Twitter and Facebook users voicing the difference between the media’s coverage of what happened in Kenya to what’s going on in Paris. CNN reports that 147 people were killed at Garissa University College in Kenya on April 2. At least 79 folks were injured in the hours-long attack.
“According to the website popularity tracking list called “What’s Hot” on Alexa.com, an Amazon company, a BBC News article about the 147 people killed in the Kenya attack by an Islamist group is the sixth most popular URL on their list as of this writing,” Toxcy reports.
With the amount of tweets and Facebook comments about Kenya, the site mentioned that it’s causing confusion with some users who are wondering why the country is trending.
The attack in Kenya is noted for having the largest number of people killed on the country’s soil since 1998. That year, the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi was bombed, killing more than 200 people.
Despite the deaths and devastation left in Kenya from the attacks, it did not receive the amount of attention that the Paris incidents are currently generating. According to Toxcy, the disparity in coverage is being blamed on Kenya being a third-world country. The following tweet is one of many that point out the difference in media coverage:
When 147 Kenyans were murdered I didn’t see anybody changing their profile pic with African flags. But as soon as… https://t.co/6dHhTkzoz1 — DA CAVE RADIO (@dacaveradio) November 14, 2015
On Facebook, the difference is even more present as it allowed users to show their support of Paris by allowing them to use its new filter to change their profile pictures to French flags, Time reports as it highlights the comparisons of the French flag display to the lack of Kenyan flag filters on Facebook.
On social media, news coverage or the lack therof for other tragic events are being being questioned and reexamined as the Kenyan attacks resurface on the public radar.
The following are comments from a Twitter user who weighed in on the flag and coverage situations:
Facebook wants users to use French flag avatars. Where are the Lebanese, Yemeni, Nigerian etc flags after massacres? pic.twitter.com/Dxq6hGrw6q — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 14, 2015
Mere days before the January Paris attacks, 2,000 Nigerians were slaughtered by Boko Haram. They didn’t get a march. pic.twitter.com/tPhOJD5BsB — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 14, 2015
In addition to discussing coverage, social media users are making the #prayforKenya hashtag a trending topic as well as related searches on Kenya and Paris in the wake of the controversy over coverage.
“As written by Jeremy Wheeler on Facebook about the Paris and Kenya attacks, some social media users are noting the difference in the tragedies in terms of the outpouring of worldwide sympathy and news coverage. Apologists for the terrorists who murdered in Paris are popping up even before the bodies are cold,” Toxcy mentioned.
“Back in April when Islamist terrorists attacked a university in Kenya what was the excuse then? Did you even hear about it? The Kenya attack on Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya is being brought back to life months later, as a means of social media users giving attention to other terrorist attacks around the world.”
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