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AFRICAN DECLARATION ON INTERNET FREEDOMS: WHY THIS IS RELEVANT TO KENYA

Have you read the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms? If you haven’t, you should. As Africans and Kenyans as a whole, we face the risk of our voices being silenced.  This Declaration is a genius idea to document some of the rights we have taken for granted in the digital space.

The Declaration touches on issues including Openness, Access to the internet, Freedom of Expression, Right to Information, Privacy and Personal Data Protection among many other pertinent issues regarding internet and Constitutional Rights and Freedoms.

In my opinion, this Declaration if and when endorsed by Kenyans will ensure that we exercise our rights to express ourselves and to share and receive information online. From here we should perhaps think of a more comprehensive document, perhaps a National Internet Freedoms Policy to delve further into these freedoms and ensure consistency with the Constitution of Kenya 2010 to complement the Right to Information Bill 2015. Without a doubt, if we let the internet space run like a juggle, as a Nation we may fail miserably. A good balance needs to be attained for prosperity.

The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) will be hosting an event on the 15^th of December at Nailab, 4^th Floor at Bishop Magua Centre off Ngong Road.  They will be discussing this Declaration and the state of internet freedoms in East Africa.  Members of the public are invited to attend to come and be educated about their rights and freedoms on the internet and also share their thoughts and recommendations. There will also be a viewing of an infomercial style video that will consist of animation, graphics and interviews with Kenyans who use the internet for various purposes that will look to create awareness on the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms.

It is every citizen’s responsibilities to know and understand their rights and freedoms.  #iFreeKE