{"id":2000111895,"date":"2026-05-14T13:47:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000111895"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:53:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:53:22","slug":"i-have-been-immunized-kagame-says-he-is-not-shocked-by-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/i-have-been-immunized-kagame-says-he-is-not-shocked-by-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I have been immunized\u2019 – Kagame says he is not shocked by social media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kagame made the remarks during a conversation with CNN correspondent, Eleni Giokos at the opening of Africa CEO Forum 2026 in Kigali on Wednesday, May 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about the often chaotic and undignified tone of social media used by global leaders, Kagame offered a calm and pragmatic view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe media has been democratized. I think it is important,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone can express themselves and they will be heard. If you are wrong, there will be somebody to tell you, no, no, no, that\u2019s not right. When it is right, people will say, wait a minute, I think there is a point here that we should be thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kagame acknowledged that social media lacks the decorum of traditional communication but argued it has opened up space and broken old conditioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the platform allows people to receive both criticism and advice directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been so open that we have gone beyond having this narrow sense of being guided to things without sometimes thinking,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When pressed on whether some of the things he sees on social media shock him, Kagame replied calmly: \u201cI am not shocked. I said I have been immunized today. I am not shocked. I understand where the world we live in. It has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that after the last 30 years in leadership, he has come to accept that many things that would once have been shocking no longer are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders, he suggested, should scan information, make sense of it, and decide how to use it responsibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President\u2019s comments reflect a measured approach to the digital public square, contrasting with many leaders who often complain about or avoid social media altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Kagame praised social media as a democratized platform for global expression and accountability during a conversation with CNN correspondent. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Paul Kagame has welcomed the rise of social media as a positive force that has democratized global discourse, saying he is not shocked by its raw nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000111901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[160],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000111895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-26","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-theophile-niyitegeka"],"bylines":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"contributors":[{"id":160,"name":"Th\u00e9ophile Niyitegeka","slug":"theophile-niyitegeka","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":3}],"featured_image":{"id":2000111901,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/whatsapp_image_2026-05-14_at_10.46_23_am-fc16e.jpg","width":1000,"height":667}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000111895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000111895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000111895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000111905,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000111895\/revisions\/2000111905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000111901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000111895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000111895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000111895"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000111895"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000111895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}