Telcos regulator seeks to monitor WhatsApp

Morning Mr Patrick Maina,

You mention how messaging apps facilitate fake news, crime and other
things. You also lay peace,development on a scale versus human rights such
as free speech and privacy.
Sir, it is good to be objective and factual. Last year Kenya had 10 months
of hot politics. Research shows that the Kenyan authorities did not attempt
to control, disrupt or shutdown the internet. Hence this tired line of the
country going into flames because of the internet (messaging apps) doesn\’t
hold any weight. The number of Kenyan users of these messaging apps and
other factors such as social class of users, bots affect the impact of the
internet in democratic transitions. The broadcast media shut down in
January should tell which communication medium has more impact on the
Kenyan society. ?

I believe your intention was to state why companies that offer over the top
services should pay taxes here. That is a different argument all together
with a different set of facts unless you are advocating for a blanket over
the top tax to be paid by users to avoid \’spread of gossip and lies\’ just
like in Uganda.

On Fri, 2 Nov 2018, 13:26 Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet, <
[email protected]> wrote:

> These messaging apps facilitate fake news, crime, foreign meddling (to
> subvert democracy), brainwashing and hate speech on a massive scale. We
> know this for a fact.
>
> So as citizens and stakeholders in our country, we need to ask: what do we
> value more, is it things that improve peace, stability, economic
> development and democracy, OR, is it some utopian, unbounded notion of free
> speech and privacy that is disconnected from our contextual reality (e.g.
> protects criminals, malicious defamers and violence mongers in equal
> proportion as law abiding citizens)?
>
> The companies running these uncontrolled messaging platforms will not be
> impacted if our country goes up in flames. They cost governments tons of
> money in maintaining internal security (especially during democratic
> transitions – sometimes to existential levels) yet they don\’t pay any
> taxes… and mark you, they are *billion dollar* companies! This also means
> that funds that ought to have bought, say, medicine to save lives gets
> diverted to fix an *imported problem* with no path to holding the parent
> company accountable for damage caused.
>
> Gok needs to modernize our tax laws, which currently are based on the
> traditional \”for profit\” enterprise model and thus out of touch with
> Silicon Valley\’s \”make losses by design\” model. The basic assumption that
> entrepreneurship is a profit oriented endeavour does not hold for Silicon
> Valley VC subsidized companies. They are designed to operate as loss makers
> for decades (but still move *massive* amounts of financial resources at
> massive scale). This has the technical effect of *tax avoidance* because
> massive profits *are* still being made by the offshore VCs – which denies
> governments billions in taxes (despite imposing local burdens as
> illustrated above).
>
>
> A smart government would create modernized laws to tax VC funded Silicon
> Valley companies e.g. on the basis of *funding rounds* and *valuations*
> because this is their *real* business i.e. its how the investors intend to
> make money from day one – and the primary reason they push for perpetual
> losses!
>
> There should also be a turnover tax and VAT on online revenue earned in
> Kenya by foreign billion dollar internet companies (e.g. advertisement
> revenue and appstore revenue), to level the tax playing field for local
> businesses. Similar to what other countries like the UK are working on:
>
> www.wired.co.uk/article/facebook-uk-tax-bill
>
> CA will obviously have a hard time monitoring and enforcing though, under
> the current traditional framework due to technical barriers (e.g.
> encryption) and also due to jurisdictional challenges.
>
> So the other thing that CA really needs to do once the rules are set is to
> consider blocking non-compliant foreign apps completely at ISP level
> (especially now that political temperatures are cool and people and
> thinking clearly). Lets have local startups filling any gaps with copycat
> apps China-style.
>
> To be clear, I support free speech and privacy. But I also support peace,
> stability, safe neighbourhoods, democracy, sovereignty and economic
> predictability!
>
> A delicate balance is needed to maximise the rights of law abiding
> citizens while minimising the ability of those with evil intent to exploit
> basic rights in order to harm the innocent.
>
> Good day.
> Patrick.
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, November 1, 2018, 11:00:44 PM GMT+3, Grace Githaiga via
> kictanet <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> Kenya is considering regulating online services such as WhatsApp and Skype
> in a radical move that could force the internet-based service providers to
> share data with the government.
>
> The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is in search of a consultant to
> study and determine how the so-called over-the-top services (OTTS) operated
> by groups such as Facebook, which runs WhatsApp, and Skype owner Microsoft,
> could be regulated.
> Read on:
> www.nation.co.ke/business/Telcos-regulator-seeks-to-monitor-WhatsApp/996-4833020-fn9u7s/index.html
>
>
>
>
>
> Best regards
>
>
> Githaiga, Grace
>
>
> Co-Convenor
> Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet)
> Twitter:@ggithaiga
> Tel: 254722701495
> Skype: gracegithaiga
> Alternate email: [email protected]
> Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/gracegithaiga
> www.kictanet.or.ke
>
> \”Change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged and
> come together to demand it. I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability
> to bring about change – but in yours\”—Barrack Obama.
>
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> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people\’s times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don\’t flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>

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