Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - Kenyans could soon be required to present their national identification or similar documents before accessing social media platforms, following new ‘child online safety guidelines’ issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
The Industry Guidelines for Child Online Protection and
Safety in Kenya, published in April, outline strict measures aimed at shielding
minors from harmful content online while balancing their rights to information
and freedom of expression.
According to the CA, responsibility for protecting children
online is shared across society.
Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Content Service
Providers (CSPs) will now be expected to implement age-verification systems to
prevent underage access to inappropriate content.
“Develop, use and implement age-verification mechanisms in
the deployment of ICT products and services,” the guidelines state in part.
To enforce this, mobile operators must ensure all SIM cards
used by minors are registered under the Kenya Information and Communications
Act, 1998, and SIM registration regulations of 2015.
Users will also be required to declare who the intended
subscriber of each SIM card is.
The move could see internet service providers introduce
mandatory age verification tools, linking user profiles to real-world
identities.
This, authorities say, would help curb cyberbullying, hate
speech, misinformation, and online fraud by making offenders easier to trace.
However, the proposal has sparked privacy concerns.
Critics warn it could expose whistleblowers, bloggers, and
government critics who depend on anonymity.
Similar efforts in countries like Nigeria and India have so
far failed due to technical and privacy challenges.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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