KICA Amendment- Regulation of Social Media

I have so much to say about this but let me pick just one train of thought.
Youth. How many young people can afford to have an office in Kenya? A quick
look at the Kenya Youth Development Policy draft 2 (2018), Chapter 2,
outlines youth issues including:

(ix) Limited participation in socio-economic spheres and inequality of
oopportunities: Despite
their numerical superiority, youth are the least represented in political
and economic spheres
due to societal attitudes, socio-cultural and economic barriers, and lack
of proper
organization, orientation and empowerment.
(x) Limited and poor housing: Many youth, especially those in the urban
areas, do not have
access to decent housing in environments that favour healthy living. (If
young people can\’t even afford decent housing, how will they afford an
office?)
(xi) Emerging issues that affect the youth include limited access to
information and
communication technology (ICT) which constraints youth from exploiting
career, business and
education opportunities available especially in rural areas, and high ICT
access costs and
negative use of ICT and social media. Other challenges include:
radicalization, gambling,
cyber-crime.

Regards,
Mildred Achoch.

On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, kanini mutemi via kictanet <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Are we worried about the definition of ‘social media platform’
>
> The amendment proposes that for a social media platform to ‘operate’ in
> Kenya, they must seek a license. To get the license, they will have to
> comply with some obligations eg having an office in Kenya.
>
>
> On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 at 13:44, Mildred Achoch <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I think posting on Twitter is covered under the term microblogging. My
>> follow up question then is: does this include retweeting or liking someone
>> else\’s tweet? If someone from another country criticizes a leader in Kenya,
>> then I retweet this 280 character criticism, have I carried out the action
>> of \”blogging\”?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Mildred.
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, kanini mutemi <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> @Mildred,
>>>
>>> Thanks for starting us off.
>>>
>>> Would you say someone posting on Twitter (280 characters) would also
>>> fall under the broad definition of blogger? Drawing this from ‘*writing
>>> on social media platforms*’
>>>
>>> On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 at 13:21, Mildred Achoch <[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Listers,
>>>>
>>>> First, thank you for the opportunity to discuss this. I have very many
>>>> initial thoughts but let me begin with the definition of blogging. I think
>>>> it is important to look at the history of blogging as this will expand the
>>>> definition of the term beyond just news items. On the ground, many bloggers
>>>> like myself don\’t even concern themselves with news. For example, I have a
>>>> poetry blog that is largely inactive but is still a \”LOG\” of my previous
>>>> creative activities.
>>>>
>>>> Wikipedia has outlined what a blog is: en.m.wikipedia.
>>>> org/wiki/Blog
>>>>
>>>> If we are to follow the definition of blogging that is outlined in this
>>>> bill, does it mean then that blogs which do not deal with news will be
>>>> exempt? If a blog deals with the history of Kenya, is this still news or
>>>> not? What about satire based on news items? Parody? Memes?
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Mildred Achoch.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, kanini mutemi via kictanet <
>>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Good morning Listers,
>>>>>
>>>>> As GG had alerted us last week, there is a bill before the National
>>>>> Assembly that seeks to amend the Kenya Information and Communication Act by
>>>>> including a part on Regulation of Social Media.
>>>>>
>>>>> I will lead us on a discussion on this Bill.
>>>>>
>>>>> Between 2016 to date, we have seen many attempts to regulate social
>>>>> media conduct. Interestingly, one such attempt, the Computer Misuse and
>>>>> Cybercrimes Act, where many of its sections on regulation of social media,
>>>>> have been suspended is coming up for hearing today. Now we tackle yet
>>>>> another attempt to ‘fix’ social media.
>>>>>
>>>>> To start with, I will post the definitions proposed in the bill of the
>>>>> word ‘social media platform’ and ‘blogging’:
>>>>>
>>>>> \”*blogging\” means collecting, writing, editing and presenting of news
>>>>> or news articles in social media platforms or in the internet;*
>>>>>
>>>>> *\”social media platforms\” includes online publishing and discussion,
>>>>> media sharing, blogging, social networking, document and data sharing
>>>>> repositories, social media applications, social bookmarking and widgets;*
>>>>>
>>>>> What are your initial thoughts? What ‘problem’ is Hon. Injendi trying
>>>>> to fix with this bill? Who will fall under those definitions? Contributions
>>>>> are welcome.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> —
>>>>> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> —
>>>> Check out the Rock \’n\’ roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel!
>>>> kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> —
>>> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> —
>> Check out the Rock \’n\’ roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel!
>> kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com
>>
>>
>>
>> —
> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>
>
>
>