The Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) has vowed to challenge in court the constitutionality of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018.
The association termed the law which President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to on Wednesday as retrogressive and meant to stiffle freedom of expression and media freedom.
They explained that several sections of the law were in contravention of the 2010 Constitution and a number of international statutes.
BAKE went on to list specific provisions that they maintained were of great concern.
Among them was that the membership of the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee was drawn entirely from the government, completely disregarding stakeholders' input.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta signing the Cybercrime bill into law on 16/05/2018"]
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They also argued that sections 16 and 17 of the law on unauthorized interception, unauthorized access and unauthorized interference were meant to stiffle whistleblowing.
BAKE noted that in the past, bloggers had uncovered major corruption scandals that were eventually proven to be true.
"These sections will curtail public vigilance and throttle free access of information, necessary to protect public trust, grow our democracy and ensure corrupt individuals are put behind bars," they wrote.
Furthermore, they argued that the section of the law which touches on fake news failed to define what exactly 'fake' is.
"It is not only problematic that the Act fails to define it, but also in practice, giving fertile grounds for individuals in power to use and misuse it to arrest, intimidate and threaten bloggers and Kenyans online," they wrote.
BAKE disclosed that they had gotten in touch with a lawyer as they planned to mount a major legal challenge.
[caption caption="BAKE Chairman Kennedy Kachwanya"]
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