[kictanet] KICA Amendment- Regulation of Social Media

Thu Oct 24 22:12:55 EAT 2019

Hi Alice,

Very good proposal. I think part of the USF funds ( i propose 5 %) should
be used for Capacity Building and Research for members of parliament and
other key stakeholders on emerging issues such as OTTs. This will support
Private Sector and Civil Society efforts. Academia can benefit from the
fund to do Research.

Regards

On Thu, 24 Oct 2019, 10:09 pm Alice Munyua via kictanet, <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Thank you very much Mercy for moderating these timely discussions.
>
> I wonder if it would make sense to also consider, more broadly, OTTs and
> how they contribute to the Internet value chain in a way that would
> contribute to, for example, the Communications Authority’s strategy for
> regulatory treatment of OTTs.  The CA  should ideally call for public
> discussions/contribution to these issues soon before these  ill informed
> bills are tabled in parliament.
>
>
>
> Best
> Alice
>
> On Oct 23, 2019, at 05:07, kanini mutemi via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
> 
> I see the comments coming in. Thank you.
>
> Here is more to ponder on:
>
> The Amendment will require that all bloggers register with the Commission
> (Read Communication Authority of Kenya) perhaps on the payment of a fee.
> Failure to register will be a criminal offense.
>
> So *1*. *Licensing of the social media platform*
> *      2. Registration of bloggers. *
>
> I like the question Mwendwa posed. What is news. If I’m walking by town
> and I witness an accident first hand- take a photo and break that
> information on my Whatsapp Status or Instagram stories or on Twitter- am I
> blogger? Will I have committed an offense?
>
> On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 at 14:55, Mwendwa Kivuva <lordmwesh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> According to the bill, "*blogging" means collecting, writing, editing
>> and presenting of news or news articles in social media platforms or in the
>> internet;*
>>
>>
>> Anything that is not news is not a blog. The bill is defining blogging
>> with the intention of regulating opinion on news. So that you would need a
>> license to comment on any newsworthy event. Probably, the next question
>> should be, what is the definition of News? Other questions are, if you blog
>> fake news, will that also be blogging? Is fake news under the definition of
>> blogging?
>>
>>
>> *"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;*
>>
>> KICTAnet has a document repository for sharing policy briefs and reports.
>> Does that make KICTAnet a  social media platform? Will KICTAnet need a
>> license to operate it's website?
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 14:05 kanini mutemi via kictanet <
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 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 <mildandred at gmail.com>
>>> 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 <kaninimutemi at gmail.com>
>>>> 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 <mildandred at gmail.com>
>>>>> 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:
>>>>>> https://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 <
>>>>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 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!
>>>>>> http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Check out the Rock 'n' roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel!
>>>> http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>> --
> *Mercy Mutemi, Advocate*.
>
>
>
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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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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> 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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