A lobby group has moved to court to challenge the Communication Authority of Kenya’s (CA's) decision to stop live coverage of the protests and switch off free-to-air signals for KTN, NTV and Citizen TV.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, June 25, the Katiba Institute and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) revealed that they had sought an urgent judicial review application at the High Court.
“Today, Katiba Institute (KI) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) have filed an urgent Judicial Review Application at the High Court in Nairobi challenging the unconstitutional directive issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), which ordered all television and radio stations to cease live coverage of ongoing public demonstrations,” part of the statement read.
"This directive was swiftly followed by police raids on major broadcast transmission sites of Citizen TV, NTV, and KTN, leading to the unlawful shutdown of their free-to-air services. The CA threatened broadcasters with regulatory sanctions, including license revocations, should they defy the directive."
In their application, the two entities cited that CA's directive had contravened three key constitutional rights of Kenyans, including violating the constitutional freedoms of expression, media, and information under Articles 33, 34, and 35 of the Constitution.
They also cited that the directive contravened the right to fair administrative action and due process under Article 47 and the Fair Administrative Action Act.
Lastly, the directive undermined previous court decisions, including Republic v. Chiloba (2023) and Kenya Union of Journalists v. CAK (2024), which had already declared similar actions illegal and ruled that CAK lacks legal authority to regulate broadcast content, a role constitutionally assigned to the Media Council of Kenya.
As such, the groups sought three urgent conservatory orders from the High Court to suspend the unlawful CA memo, compel the restoration of TV and radio broadcasts and restrain any enforcement of the directive.
"Media freedom and the right to protest are pillars of Kenya's democracy. Gagging the press violates not just media rights but also the public's right to know and hold power accountable. The Applicants call on the judiciary to act swiftly to preserve the Constitution and protect the public interest," the statement concluded.
Moments after issuing the directive, the authority stormed the Limuru transmission station and switched off free-to-air signals of the top TV stations.
This action came after the stations continued to broadcast the protests live across the different regions in Kenya.
However, these stations continue to stream their coverage on social media, and those with subscriptions to satellite TV services can also access the coverage.
