Kenya Finally Announces Punishment for Fake News and Pornography

The ICT Ministry has announced the introduction of a law that will see anyone involved in creating, distributing and using children in pornographic content punished with up to 25 years in jail.

The offence will attract the highest jail sentence in the newly revised Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2017, fetching a 25-year jail sentence or Sh20 Million fine.

The 2017 Cybercrimes Bill, a revised version of the 2016 bill, outlines eight additional cyber offences punishable by law.

In an effort to nab those involved in peddling "fake news", the law has introduced the False Publication clause which is described as the publishing of "false, misleading or fictitious data" with the intention that such "data shall be considered or acted upon as authentic".

The offence will attract a two-year jail sentence or a Sh5 Million fine while cyberbullying will be punished with 10 years in jail or a Sh20 Million fine.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru told journalists that the revisions have come about after a case study of the Russian hacking scandal of the 2016 American election.

"We had an election in the United States and it became very clear that cyber espionage is actually the way things are going," Mucheru stated. 

While there has been no allusion to foreign governments having hacked the Kenyan KIEMS election system, the NASA coalition has been vocal on claims that it was hacked.

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According to the law, those found guilty of hacking the military, police, bank, telecom firm or public utility will get a 20-year jail term or a Sh25 Million fine while cyber espionage will attract a 20-year sentence or Sh10 Million fine.

Cyber espionage has been described as: "Hacking into systems that have been declared critical infrastructure and sharing or selling the data obtained for the benefit of other States".

Gaining unauthorised access to a computer system will attract a three-year jail term or Sh5 Million fine while those selling illegal devices will get 10 years or pay Sh20 Million.

Unauthorised disclosure of passwords will be punished with a three-year term or Sh5 Million fine while computer fraud will see Kenyans charged a Sh20 Million fine or face a 10-year jail sentence.

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