Very interesting. The state facilitates and advocates for the infrastructure and then engages in regulatory over-reach over content. This is a pattern of behaviour we’ve seen before as captured in the KICTANET content policy brief published in 2019 (available here).

A few thoughts/questions:

-          What constitutes a ‘film’ in today’s world of short reels on Facebook & Instagram, Tik Tok videos, etc?

-          Various social media platforms are full of videos of varying lengths, from multiple sources including state entities, politicians, etc. Are all these films? Have these entities and individuals all sought and been granted filming licenses?

-          Can KFCB preview the entire floods of content being generated? Should it have to?

-          Are the content creators who received the KFCB letter the only individuals who are creating films on Youtube?  If so, isn’t that a form of targeting/discrimination?

-          The threat of legal action amounts to a form of gagging, where content creators weigh the risks of creating and distributing the content. Is this the direction that policy makers want to take?

-          The KFCB action contradicts part of the mandate of its sister body - Kenya Film Commission – which is to ‘develop, promote and market the film industry locally and internationally.’  Contradictions within state policy are not helpful to the citizenry.

My advice to KFCB: Support the film industry not by control, but by facilitation and dialogue. 


On Fri, May 24, 2024 at 11:04 PM Grace Githaiga via KICTANet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:


Listers
Interesting turn of events.

Several Kenyan content creators who share their content on YouTube,  have received letters from the Kenya Film Classification Board threatening legal action unless they secure filming licences within the next 14 days. 
Read the story here: 
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2024-05-24-kfcb-puts-youtube-content-creators-on-spot-over-filming-licences/

--
Kind regards,

Dr. Grace Githaiga,
___________________________

KICTANet: Transformed communities through the power of ICTs


--
Kind regards,

Dr. Grace Githaiga,
___________________________

KICTANet: Transformed communities through the power of ICTs
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