There is a sto­ry from a small vil­lage in Kiambu Coun­ty that has stayed on my mind. A rumor spread on What­sApp that a near­by dam had cracked and would burst with­in hours. With­in 30 min­utes, near­ly 700 peo­ple evac­u­at­ed their homes, car­ry­ing chil­dren, mat­tress­es, and what­ev­er else they could grab. Only lat­er did it become clear that the mes­sage orig­i­nat­ed out­side Kenya, cre­at­ed by some­one who has nev­er set foot in that vil­lage and has nev­er met the peo­ple whose lives he dis­rupt­ed. One false mes­sage shook an entire community.

This is the world we live in now. A world where a stranger thou­sands of miles away can reach the emo­tions of Kenyans faster than our clos­est friends. A world where truth can be fab­ri­cat­ed, weaponized, and deliv­ered at the speed of light. A world where Kenya’s great­est vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty is no longer just along our phys­i­cal bor­ders but also in the phones we hold in our hands.

I watched recent CNN reports show­ing how polit­i­cal debates in the U.S. are influ­enced by anony­mous for­eign accounts spread­ing emo­tion­al con­tent. Still, this issue isn’t just Amer­i­can; it’s a world­wide con­cern. If coun­tries with tril­lion-dol­lar economies can be manip­u­lat­ed secret­ly online, I won­dered, how much more should devel­op­ing nations like ours stay vigilant?

Kenya has already expe­ri­enced this dan­ger. Over the past year, dig­i­tal­ly altered audios mim­ic­k­ing senior nation­al lead­ers cir­cu­lat­ed on social media. Many believed them. Some became fear­ful. Oth­ers grew angry. The truth is that our emo­tions, peace, and uni­ty can be dis­turbed by peo­ple who may nev­er set foot on African soil. This is why we must start pro­tect­ing our dig­i­tal land­scape with the same seri­ous­ness as we do our forests, rivers, and wildlife.

Research shows that eighty-three per­cent of Kenyans now get their news main­ly through social media. Near­ly half find it hard to tell truth from false­hood online. At the same time, glob­al stud­ies show that false infor­ma­tion spreads six times faster than real news. When you con­sid­er Kenya’s young pop­u­la­tion and high smart­phone use, you see that the fight for our minds has already started.

Yet, there is hope. The solu­tion starts with each of us. In my book *Green for Life*, I intro­duce the MPR Green Impact Lens, a tool for every­day liv­ing. We can now use it to guide our dig­i­tal behav­ior. Each day, you’re like­ly to come across mes­sages that might be based on mis­takes. You also have moments to stop prob­lems by refus­ing to for­ward harm­ful rumors. Addi­tion­al­ly, you can show respect to oth­ers by pro­tect­ing them from dig­i­tal poi­son. Before for­ward­ing any­thing, take your MPR moment. Ask your­self: is this a mis­take, will it cause or solve a prob­lem, and does for­ward­ing it show respect?

As a nation, we must also strength­en our defens­es. Kenya needs a Dig­i­tal Integri­ty Task­force that brings togeth­er the Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Author­i­ty, IEBC, Media Coun­cil, KNBS, youth lead­ers, and faith com­mu­ni­ties. Our schools should teach dig­i­tal cit­i­zen­ship as con­fi­dent­ly as they teach math­e­mat­ics. Our faith lead­ers should remind us that for­ward­ing false­hoods is a form of steal­ing because you steal the peace of oth­ers. Our fam­i­lies should also have hon­est con­ver­sa­tions about what we receive and share.

To sup­port this, I pro­pose a straight­for­ward nation­al pledge called the Green Truth Pledge. It states: I will not share any­thing I can’t ver­i­fy. I will defend my coun­try from dig­i­tal threats. I will use my phone to inspire hope, not spread fear. Imag­ine a nation where mil­lions live by this principle.

Ulti­mate­ly, the ques­tion is sim­ple. When his­to­ry looks back at our mes­sages, will it say we stood for the truth or helped destroy it? As we approach the next gen­er­al elec­tions and beyond, the bat­tle for Kenya’s mind has already begun. Let us choose to fight for truth, uni­ty, and a hope­ful future. Think Green, Act Green.