The Kenya Information and Communication (Amendment) Bill, 2019 - No. 61 of 2019 (Malulu Injendi Bill)
Listers, Reference an article on Standard today (24th September 2019) titled "Facebook, WhatsApp groups admins to seek CA clearance" attached is the said bill. Whilst agreeably we need to regulate the social media inline with Internet Governance; the essence of this bill is both BACKWARD and OPPRESSIVE for lack of stronger terms to use. Having said that, it is imperative that we go through this with a tooth comb and point it's flaws and suggest better ways - a better way is definitely there. On this note, I think it is high time that we started looking at issue and put up measures before we get hit by such bills and start fire fighting. Let's roll up our sleeves. Twahir Hussein Kassim Email: twahir@hussein.me.ke Cellphone: +254 734 259 223 WhatsApp: +254 722 259 223
Bad manners are contagious. This looks like a copy paste from Tanzania laws. But it also shows a big ignorance in the drafters of the bill. This amendments to KICA seeks to regulate creation of whatsapp groups!! What nonsense is that? That if you want to start a baby shower group, you need to get a licence from CA. Then on blogging, you need a licence to blog!! JCofN. Since when did one need a licence to write a book? Who tells the drafter of this bill that writing a blog is any different than writing a book or magazine? All these seems to infringe on Article 33, 36, and 37 of our constitution. Waste of parliamentary time. On Tue, Sep 24, 2019, 16:42 Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Mwendwa, exactly my thoughts! We need to breakdown this Malulu Bill and highlight every blunder it seeks to create. Just wondering how a WhatsApp admin is expected to control what group members post! Despite vigilance by admins, you would always get some tough heads. Trying to get this in control is tantamount to saying I control what guests in my house would speak! Failure to do that I am liable to a jail term or a hefty fine! The whole of Kenya might end up in Shimo la Tewa or Kamiti! On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 8:34 PM Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva@transworldafrica.com> wrote:
[image: Mailtrack] <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=signaturevirality5&> Sender notified by Mailtrack <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=signaturevirality5&> 09/25/19, 12:04:23 AM
Colleagues, As always it might be usefull to undertstand the motivation behind the bill. We have members of Parliament with us on the list, it might be great if a honourable member clarifies the issues being raised so that we work together towards a good document. Best Regards Best Regards On Wed, 25 Sep 2019, 12:11 am Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet, < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
When setting up a WhatsApp Group it takes you 5 seconds. This was not a design fault, it just makes sense. WhatsApp doesn't make you fill in an "Application Form" and then tells you to wait as they vet approval. This is not a design fault, it just makes sense. So does this mean that folks who meet up at Java now need to get a licence? Its not any different. The modern world is dynamic and changes at the speed of light. Things happen quite rapidly, opportunities are created at the speed of computing power. Decisions nowadays - even in Finance and Commerce are done in Nano Seconds. Traditionally, decisions used to be made in hours or days that are today made in Nano Seconds. We are very fast falling into another very deep problem in this equation. With every positive and revolutionary trend that comes up there are 2 things that determine squarely how a nation fares when it comes to economic & social development: 1. That when a technology comes up, are you a positive adopter, or, 2. That when it comes up, are we resisting change, which is detrimental. In Kenya, so much positive has been achieved by WhatsApp groups that over-weigh the negatives. Folks coordinate activities for Self Help Groups, Community Forums, and make critical business decisions that affect economics and social welfare, in seconds. But while all these advancements are being made, Ironically the technology available to do this is free of charge, bit it seems such regulations will make us go back to the days of the Morse Code. On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 5:42 AM Barrack Otieno via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
-- *Ahmed Maawy* Skype: ultimateprogramer
How many Data Privacy/Protection initiatives do we have? A more fundamental issue to deal with is the discipline within parties. When politicians lack ideology and are not ideologically aligned you have many crazies going around spewing bills without thought. The very fabric of this nation is in danger because our operating system is corrupted. This is but a symptom of the main problem. Uungwana has been thrown out of the window and what we have is the opposite. Regards *Ali Hussein* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 4:34 AM Barrack Otieno via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Dear All, I think this clearance for Group Admins is very essential. We approve too much unjustifiable info to the society. Regards, Salim Ali On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 4:43 PM Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers,
Reference an article on Standard today (24th September 2019) titled
"Facebook, WhatsApp groups admins to seek CA clearance" attached is the said bill.
Whilst agreeably we need to regulate the social media inline with
Internet Governance; the essence of this bill is both BACKWARD and OPPRESSIVE for lack of stronger terms to use.
Having said that, it is imperative that we go through this with a tooth
comb and point it's flaws and suggest better ways - a better way is definitely there. On this note, I think it is high time that we started looking at issue and put up measures before we get hit by such bills and start fire fighting.
https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/slimally84%40gmail.com
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. -- SALIM ALI SALIM
What if we just ask someone who's not resident in Kenya to start a Whatsapp group and be the solo admin? Will CA still need to clear them? Oh, and what if we decide to use a Telegram group or Microsoft Teams or Skype or Microsoft Kaizala ?? Those too will require clearance by CA? Salim, please clarify why clearance is essential? Like meeting over coffee now requires clearance? On Wed, 25 Sep 2019 at 09:32, Salim Ali via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
-- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 "Oh, the cruft.", grep ^[^#] :-)
what's the definition of a group... anything of 2 or more? does it matter if a group only exists for a few days? 20m + Kenyans online, I'm guessing about 100m groups (not double counting) to register! From:Odhiambo Washington via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To:Adam Lane <adam.lane@huawei.com> Cc:Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo@gmail.com> Date:2019-09-25 13:40:25 SubjectRe: [kictanet] The Kenya Information and Communication (Amendment) Bill, 2019 - No. 61 of 2019 (Malulu Injendi Bill) What if we just ask someone who's not resident in Kenya to start a Whatsapp group and be the solo admin? Will CA still need to clear them? Oh, and what if we decide to use a Telegram group or Microsoft Teams or Skype or Microsoft Kaizala ?? Those too will require clearance by CA? Salim, please clarify why clearance is essential? Like meeting over coffee now requires clearance? On Wed, 25 Sep 2019 at 09:32, Salim Ali via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: Dear All, I think this clearance for Group Admins is very essential. We approve too much unjustifiable info to the society. Regards, Salim Ali On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 4:43 PM Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
-- SALIM ALI SALIM _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/odhiambo%40gmail.com 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. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 "Oh, the cruft.", grep ^[^#] :-)
I'm curious; will email lists such as Kictanet, also require clearance? Where will the line be drawn? Regards, Mildred Achoch. On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, Odhiambo Washington via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
-- Check out the Rock 'n' roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel! http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com
We need to explain the issues at hand very soberly because it seems there is a huge misconception between the DIGITAL and ANALOG world. The digital world shadows what happens in the real world. The only difference is the medium. When I start a group (chama, merry-go-round, investment, motivation, support group, family ...) for whatever reason in the analogy world also know as the real world, I am not required to get any licenses or authority. This is just like-minded individuals coming together for social good. That is not any different when people come together in the digital world. And there are many ways to come together in the digital world. The first one was IRC, chatboards, then email groups, then email lists like KICTANet or Skunkworks. With the consolidation of technology, we now have platform-based groups like Whatsapp, Telegram, Wechat, facebook, etc. There is no difference between a WhatsApp group and an email list group like KICTANet, or a chama meeting at Antonio's fish and chips hotel. Only the medium is different. If you license WhatsApp groups, also license email lists and real-world chamas. Let us go to blogs. Why would anyone want to license a blog? Do they even know what a blog is? The name evolved from a website log to a weblog to the shorter form - blog. A personal journal now facilitated by tech. I want to posit here that it is not possible to license a blog, and I will give the reasons below. The first blogs were individual simple html websites. Then we had individual free hosted blogging platforms like Angelfire, BlogSpot, blogger, WordPress.com, Tumblr, etc. But with the advancement of tech, we saw consolidation. First, there are blogging platforms that run curated content like medium.com, or circled.com. Then we have more consolidation where you can run content specific blogs like YouTube that supports video, or SoundCloud for only voice content and podcasts. Finally, microblogging websites like twitter allow you to blog short contents on a tweet, or longer content through threads. Now, of all these types of logs, which ones would need a license? Can you prevent someone from sending a tweet? Posting on Medium.com, posting on SoundCloud, YouTube? The only thing this law would do is prevent the youth in Kenya from innovating and developing their own next-generation platforms like twitter. Also, registration of .ke domains will stagnate, and reduce. Why would I register a domain where I am subjected to regulation, while I can go to hosted platforms like Medium, or register my blog with a .com domain? Finally, where is the line between a blog and a website? Is kictanet.or.ke a blog? What about nation.co.ke? On Wed, Sep 25, 2019, 09:34 Salim Ali via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Dear Mwendwa Kivuva, Thank you so much for answering the many questions that I had. Regards, Mildred Achoch. Check out the Rock 'n' roll film festival, Kenya TV Channel! http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 4:11 PM Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
The issues as stated by Mwendwa are very true especially for the youth who have delved into the world of blogging for business as well as a form of expressing themselves. Regulation of such a space is going to be stifling to innovation as well as freedom of expression . On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 6:27 PM Mildred Achoch via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
Listers, For ages, bar during the colonial period, we have never had the need to register so as to have a common forum or for wazees to sit under a mnazi and discuss the days affairs. Why would we need to do so now? Its 60yrs since we got our 'Independence' and it amazes me why anyone would want us to go back to our colonial past! Regards On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 4:56 PM Twahir Hussein Kassim via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
-- *Regards,* *Wait**haka Ngigi* Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod Building T +254 20 525 0750 |Office Mobile: +254 716 201061 | M +254 737 811 000 www.at.co.ke
participants (11)
-
Adam Lane -
Ahmed Mohamed Maawy -
Ali Hussein -
Barrack Otieno -
Mildred Achoch -
Mwendwa Kivuva -
Ngigi Waithaka -
Odhiambo Washington -
Salim Ali -
Twahir Hussein Kassim -
Vallarie Yiega