A new report on the State of Safety and Security of Bloggers in Kenya shows an increase in the number of deaths, abductions and arrests of bloggers and activists in Kenya in 2024.
The report titled “Devolved Impunity: The Safety and Security of Bloggers in Kenya (2019 – 2024)” has been produced by Paradigm Initiative, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) and Article 19 Eastern Africa. It has mapped violations between 2019 and 2024.
It states that the safety and security of bloggers in Kenya remain precarious, with the majority of the challenges arising from legal, political and technological threats. As much as legal platforms have expanded the space for free expression, bloggers face increasing risks, including harassment, surveillance, arbitrary arrests and cyber threats, the report adds.
Speaking during the launch of the report, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, pointed out that many governments are beginning to implement illegal activities, with some of them investing in spyware to monitor journalists “Mass surveillance should be illegal without legal frameworks to guide and make sure nothing goes wrong. But many governments are beginning to use existing laws around terrorism, and cybercrime, to then make legal what should not be legal and that is a challenge because what that does is that in many countries where some of your colleagues work we have had scenarios where governments have invested in spyware to monitor journalists and impede the work that they do,” he said.
Mr James Wamathai, Partnerships and Advocacy Manager, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) said: “We are asking to be protected. The same human rights should be protected and preserved online. If one class of society is not safe, no one is safe. The safety and security of bloggers is something everyone should care about.”
Demas Kiprono, Deputy Director, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Kenya chapter, said the report showcases democratic space has moved online where Kenyans are engaging government and people in power online and this had come with inherent risks.
