<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<p lang="en-GB"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Hi Mercy,</font></p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span lang="en-GB">If
you read the proposed 84IA. on </span><span lang="en-GB">licensing</span><span
lang="en-GB">,
</span><span lang="en-GB">one can quickly see that</span><span
lang="en-GB">
</span><span lang="en-GB">it is unenforceable legally especially
on
the indefinite data retention requirements under subsection
2(c). </span></font>
</p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><span lang="en-GB">Additionally
the whole proposed licensing
regime </span>do not provide sufficient details about the
conditions
for the granting of the license or authorisation. In fact, it is
not
clear whether the issuing will automatically follow the payment
of
the fee, or if further conditions have to be met by applicants,
and
in this case which ones. In other words, the vagueness of the
rules
might provide authorities with unlimited discretionary power
while
deciding whether to grant the license or authorisation. As such,
the
rules also fail to provide content providers with the legal
certainty
they need to provide their services. Nor do the rules provide
for the
possibility, for anyone who has been refused a license or
authorisation, to apply to the courts for judicial review of the
refusal decision.</font></p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p lang="en-GB"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">I would
also add from our Policy Brief on the Right
to Blog which can be found here:-
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Right-to-Blog-EN-WEB.pdf">https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Right-to-Blog-EN-WEB.pdf</a></font></p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p lang="en-GB"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">“….licensing
and registration schemes for all
bloggers, whatever they do, are deeply inimical to protection of
the
right to freedom of expression and in flagrant breach of
international law…..there is no legitimate reason why bloggers –
or in fact members of the general public – should be subject to
mandatory licensing to express themselves.</font></p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p lang="en-GB"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">An
important source of legal authority on the subject
is an opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued
in
1985. Most tellingly, the Court dismissed the argument that
licensing
schemes were necessary to ensure the public’s right to receive
truthful information or high standards of publication and found
that
such systems ultimately prove counterproductive.</font></p>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
</font>
<p lang="en-GB"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Similarly,
the UN Human Rights Committee has
repeatedly held that mandatory licensing schemes for print media
constitute a violation of the right to freedom of expression.
The UN,
OAS and OSCE special mandates for freedom of expression have
also
stated that individuals should not be required to obtain a
licence or
register….”</font></p>
<div>
<p><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><span>Best Regards,</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span
style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="font-family: calibri,
helvetica, sans-serif;"><span><span style="background:
#fcfdfe">Ephraim Percy Kenyanito</span></span></span></span></strong></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #1f497d;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>Senior
Programme Officer: Digital</span></span></span><strong><span
style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="font-family: calibri,
helvetica, sans-serif;"><span><span style="background:
#fcfdfe"><br>
</span></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<blockquote><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong><span
style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="font-family: calibri,
helvetica, sans-serif;"><span><span style="background:
#fcfdfe">ARTICLE 19</span></span></span></span></strong>
</span></blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="color: rgb(31, 73,
125); font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span>Defending Freedom of Expression and
Information</span></span></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #f05133;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>W </span></span></span><a
href="http://www.article19.org/" target="_blank"><span
style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span>www.article19.org</span></span></span></a></span>
<div><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #f05133;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>Tw </span></span></span><a
href="http://twitter.com/#!/article19org" target="_blank"><span
style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span>@article19org</span></span></span></a></span><br>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #f05133;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>Fa </span></span></span><a
href="http://www.facebook.com/article19org" target="_blank"><span
style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span>facebook.com/article19org</span></span></span></a></span><br>
</div>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #f05133;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>PGP
Fingerprint</span></span></span><span style="color:
#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>:</span></span></span><span
style="color: #888888;"><span> </span></span><span
style="color: #1f497d;"><span style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif;"><span>B0FA394AF73DEB7AA1FDC7360CFED26DE6BA8DC1</span></span></span></span></div>
<div> </div>
<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="color: #f05133;"><span
style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span>Book a meeting</span></span></span><span
style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><span>: </span></span><a
href="https://calendly.com/ekenyanito" target="_blank">https://calendly.com/ekenyanito</a></span>
<p>
<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; }</style></p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/24/19 11:27 AM, kanini mutemi via
kictanet wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CACiPFoj97HDmeZLWKXxmzTrLj_q0809BkJ+kaW5tiD5rDyi4Sw@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div>
<div dir="auto">Thank you for the views- please keep them
coming. </div>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">Let’s also look at this from a Freedom of
Expression point of view because at the root of it ‘bloggers’
(and anyone who shares anything online) are expressing
themselves. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><b><i>Is it constitutionally sound to require
registration before expression? Think of it as a ‘license to
speak’. Is this justifiable in our constitutional framework?</i></b></div>
<div><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 at
11:20, Wamathai (HapaKenya) <<a
href="mailto:w@hapakenya.com" moz-do-not-send="true">w@hapakenya.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">Good
morning,</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">I
have many thoughts on this but to be honest it is such a
bad idea.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">I
see this bill as the continuation of attempts to muzzle
free speech and freedom of the media online that was
initially started by the state. In the past, there was a
reliance on existing vague laws but some of them have
been declared unconstitutional hence the change of
tact. </div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">In
the past, this kind of intimidation has primarily
targeted influencers and bloggers but also ordinary
online users have been targeted. To be targeted, all
they do is just brand you a blogger, a loose term used
by politicians & the media to refer to online users
(and not just organized online content creators). In
2015, Nancy Mbindillah was arrested in Embu for
'insulting' the Governor. <a
href="https://www.ifree.co.ke/2015/01/24-year-old-nancy-mbindalah-held-in-custody-then-pardoned-for-undermining-the-embu-governor/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">She was
basically arrested for expressing her opinion on
various operations in the County</a>. I fear that this
law will be used to target anyone who shares
uncomfortable opinions or facts under the banner of
'undesirable content'.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">The
attempts to license organized online content creators
(we can call them bloggers and influencers) is a
regional trend with Tanzania charging $930 and Uganda
having proposed regulations on the same. The basic idea,
like in Kenya with this new bill, is to create an
environment where free speech is punished and those who
haven't registered under the regulations are also
punished. </div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small">The
long term effects of this law is disastrous to free
discourse and if you bring in the online media element,
freedom of the media as well. In my opinion, as an
online content creator and an official of the Bloggers
Association of Kenya (BAKE), this law should not be
allowed as it goes against fundamental freedoms and
rights as guaranteed by the constitution. </div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div><font style="font-size:12.8px"
face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font style="font-size:12.8px"
face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<font style="font-size:12.8px"
face="verdana, sans-serif">-----</font>
<div>
<div style="font-size:12.8px">
<p style="font-size:10px"><font
face="verdana, sans-serif"><img
src="http://www.hapakenya.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/HK350long.png"
moz-do-not-send="true" width="200"
height="35"><br>
</font></p>
<p style="line-height:11px"><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><font
size="2" face="verdana,
sans-serif"><span
style="font-weight:bold">James
Wamathai</span> | CEO, <a
href="http://hapakenya.com/"
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">hapakenya.com</a><br>
</font></span></p>
<p style="line-height:11px"><font
size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif"><font
color="#000000">m: </font><font
color="#0000ff">0777-555101</font><font
color="#000000"> e: </font><a
href="mailto:w@hapakenya.com"
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">w@hapakenya.com</a><font
color="#000000"> | Twitter: </font><a
href="http://twitter.com/wamathai"
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">@Wamathai</a></font></p>
<p
style="line-height:11px;color:rgb(153,153,153)"><font
size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p
style="line-height:11px;color:rgb(153,153,153)"><font
size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif"><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Follow
Hapa Kenya: </span><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><i>Twitter</i>: <a
href="http://twitter.com/hapaKenya" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">@HapaKenya</a>, <i>FB</i>: <a
href="http://fb.com/HapaKenya"
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">fb.com/HapaKenya</a></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, 23 Oct 2019 at
12:15, kanini mutemi via kictanet <<a
href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto">Good morning Listers, </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">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. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">I will lead us on a discussion on this
Bill. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">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. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">To start with, I will post the
definitions proposed in the bill of the word ‘social
media platform’ and ‘blogging’:</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">
<div dir="auto">
<div dir="auto">"<b><i>blogging" means collecting,
writing, editing and presenting of news or
news articles in social media platforms or in
the internet;</i></b></div>
<div dir="auto"><b><i><br>
</i></b></div>
<div dir="auto"><b><i>"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;</i></b></div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">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. </div>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div><span
style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b>Mercy
Mutemi, Advocate</b>. <br>
</span></div>
</div>
<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b><i><br>
</i></b></span></div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
_______________________________________________<br>
kictanet mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a><br>
<a
href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet"
rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet</a><br>
Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/kictanet"
rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://twitter.com/kictanet</a><br>
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/"
rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/</a><br>
<br>
Unsubscribe or change your options at <a
href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/w%40hapakenya.com"
rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/w%40hapakenya.com</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"
data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b>Mercy
Mutemi, Advocate</b>. <br>
</span></div>
</div>
<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b><i><br>
</i></b></span></div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke">kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet</a>
Twitter: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://twitter.com/kictanet">http://twitter.com/kictanet</a>
Facebook: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/">https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/</a>
Unsubscribe or change your options at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ekenyanito%40gmail.com">https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ekenyanito%40gmail.com</a>
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.
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>