When software developer Rose Njeri created a pro-democracy tool to help Kenyans object to a contested finance bill, she was thrown in jail and targeted by an online smear campaign.

Njeri is the latest victim of a sophisticated online apparatus that targets and harasses government critics in Kenya, where rights groups warn of an escalating crackdown on public dissent.

"I got to sleep in a cell for four days," the 35-year-old told AFP. "I was just making tools that aligned with my beliefs."

The east African country has seen a wave of deadly protests against President William Ruto and police brutality that have left dozens dead and thousands of businesses destroyed.

Although Njeri's arrest in May sparked outrage, prompting a wave of solidarity under the hashtag #FreeRoseNjeri on X, she also became the subject of foreign-agent conspiracies.

Around the same time, two human rights campaigners, including Kenya's Boniface Mwangi -- a long-standing critic of Ruto -- were detained in Tanzania, where they were attending the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.

Held incommunicado for several days before being dumped at the border, both activists alleged torture and sexual assault by security forces.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who prior to Mwangi's release spoke of "ill-mannered activists" interfering in the country's affairs, seemingly received praise online, with the hashtag #AsanteSamia (#ThankyouSamia) amassing roughly 1.5 million views.

Some of these posts falsely claimed that Njeri had trained in "ethical hacking" in Estonia and linked her to a Russian cyber-operations group. Others alleged........

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