from MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, Kenya
Kenya Bureau
NAIROBI, (CAJ News) – KENYA is under severe criticism for throttling the internet, tampering with mobile networks and censoring media as the government faces fresh rounds of protests.
Protests in the East African country peaked on Wednesday as thousands took to the streets in major cities to mark exactly a year into the killing of more than 60 protesters after police brutality.
The demonstrators are also riled by the continued harassment of online activists, a year after the killing of the aforementioned protesters coincided with the administration of President William Ruto imposing a blackout of the internet that year.
The protests were under the aegis Generation Z protests and had died down over the months until Wednesday when fresh demonstrations again led to restrictions.
The regulatory board, Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA), late Wednesday, barred all radio and television stations from live coverage of the demonstrations.
“Failure to abide by this directive will result in regulatory action as stipulated in the Kenya Information and Communication Act, 1998,” stated David Mugonyi, CA Director General and Chief Executive Officer.
However, the High Court restrained CA from interfering with broadcasting programmes under the guise of content regulation.
It urgently ruled this was not under the jurisdiction of CA but of the Media Council of Kenya.
“Any Broadcasting signals that may have been switched off as a result of the referenced directive (must) be restored with immediate effect, pending further orders of the court,” Justice Chacha Mwita ordered.
The Law Society of Kenya also criticised the CA.
“The directive by the CA is an absolute nullity in law and an affront to fundamental rights espoused in and guaranteed by the Constitution,” the organisation’s president, Faith Odhiambo, said.
NetBlocks reported on Wednesday evening that its live metrics showed restrictions to messaging platform, Telegram, were in effect.
“The measure comes as authorities issue a ban on live media coverage of the June 25 anniversary protests, amid rising concerns over the risk of a wider internet shutdown,” it alerted.
Mobile subscribers reported glitches in accessing social media.
– CAJ News