Kenyan Politicians & State Entities That Block People On Social Media Risk Getting Fined Or Jailed

Farai Mudzingwa Avatar
Facebook, Zim Misinformation, down, outage

Kenyan politicians and state entities on social media will no longer be allowed to block people and if they do they will get heavily fined (US$9 914) and even risk going to jail (3 years maximum). The worst-case scenario will result in both a fine and jail time.

Kenya’s Ombudsman -an official appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against a company or organization- released a statement explaining that users shouldn’t be blocked for asking questions:

The various institutions use social media to publish and share public information hence no user should be blocked for asking questions

Office of the Ombudsman

Beyond asking questions, users also won’t be blocked for using abusive language as well, which has normally been the reason given by most politicians and government which block people on social media. The Office of the Ombudsman in Kenya suggests users who use abusive language should be dealt with in other ways without suggesting what those other methods should be.

That has always been the problem. Politicians and sometimes state entities block users because they are being abusive so suggesting that the people being abused just “deal with it” or you will be fined, doesn’t seem to solve the issue of abuse at its core.

What this will lead to is politicians resorting to fake accounts or just disengaging from social media platform which doesn’t help the situation.

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