People who spew hatred risk either being fined Sh20 million or face 10 years in jail, if the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2016 is enacted to law.
The draft law details a wide range of stringent measures to also curb other crimes such as child abuse, identity theft, child pornography, online fraud, radicalization, money-laundering and hate speech.
The bill is also aimed at improving investigations into cybercrimes by making provisions for procedural law tools and securing electronic evidence for effective national and international cooperation.
“The bill is more comprehensive since it will cover all other cyber criminal related offences,” he said. “If passed to law, we shall be able to deal with the problem effectively.”
In some circumstances, people pay ransom to get their freedom back, which is after all never guaranteed.
“The problem cut across all levels of our society…some people who come to report these cases are rated highly in the society,” he said with divulging further information.
His advice to Kenyans, “have your clothes on …don’t share your photos with anyone. Are they sending theirs as well?”
-Reactions from Kenyans-
Here are some of the sentiments by residents of Nairobi asked whether they would share uncovered photos with friends;
“I can’t trust people with my uncovered photos. Come see in person if you want,” one of them said.
Another pointed out that, “The Internet never forgets and a decision like that could end up ruining your life …You don’t want to be in a position where a mere image will stop you from achieving what you want because human beings remains moral police.”
“I would never share naked photos with anyone. It is good to keep your privacy intact. You never knows what future holds,” said another one.
Another said “Yes, I have shared a couple but no face in it.”
“I cannot send them because I am very conservative and I usually delete such… celebs are victims,” a known celebrity who did not want to be mentioned said.
He is a victim after photos of him were taken while intoxicated and shared on the social media.
-Global Problem-
Recent research indicates that one in five Australians have fallen prey to abusive behaviour, including having intimate photographs taken without consent and then confronting threats to share them on social networks, a government-funded national study of more than 4,200 people revealed.
Academics at Monash University and RMIT University found that men and women were equally likely to be targeted, while 50 percent of those from minority groups, like Aboriginal Australians and those with disabilities, reported some form of abuse.
About a third of those who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual had fallen victim.
The most common type of abuse was taking intimate images without consent. Some 11 percent of victims saw their images distributed without their consent, with some 40 percent of those being shared across social media platforms like Snapchat and Facebook.
A vast majority of those who experienced “sextortion”, or threats to share their images, said they suffered from anxiety as a result, with many fearing for their safety.
About half of the victims said their perpetrators were male, about a third that the violator was female while 13 percent said the offender was unknown.
Facebook this month announced plans to curb the spread of intimate images with the use of photo-matching technology to prevent copies being shared once the issue is reported and confirmed and the pictures removed.
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