A new bill dubbed Kenya Information and Communication Amendment Bill 2019 has been sent to Kenya’s legislative house. The newly proposed bill will clamp down the activities of social media managers, bloggers, and group administrators in the country.
It could be recalled that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta earlier in 2016, signed into law a bill that prohibits the abuse of people on social media, categorizing it as a cybercrime. The country’s film board also prohibited sharing videos on online platforms without the permission of the board.
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Thus, the new bill is part of the laws that are already in place in the country. It serves as another means of curbing the use of social media in Kenya.
The proposed bill seeks to regulate contents posted on social media groups and platforms; it compels group administrators on large social media groups to register their biodata with Kenya’s Ministry of Communication.
According to the bill, social media groups administrators will have to submit information varying their location to group members on the platform.
When signed into law, administrators will be tasked with the bigger responsibility of deleting and kicking out-group members who post scandalous content and materials. Any red herring blogs that default to register under the Communication amended bill will attract a KES 0.5M ($4,814.15 ) fine or a two-year jail term.
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