NAIROBI, Kenya, May 14 – The High Court has ordered the Communications Authority of Kenya, Safaricom, Airtel from initiating any form of internet shutdown until a suit filed by Civil Society Organisations is heard and determined.
In the ruling, the organisations were further barred from interfering with digital communications including social media platforms, telephony services, and data services.
The ruling follows a petition filed by the International Commission of Jurists–Kenya, the Kenya Union of Journalists, and two other petitioners.
The petitioners through lawyer Dudley Ochiel argued that the Communications Authority had previously engaged in unlawful digital interference.
They cited instances during the 2023 and 2024 national examinations when Telegram was routinely shut down.
“Then, on 25 June 2024, during the #RejectFinanceBill protests, the Respondents illegally shut down the internet,” they stated. “The June shutdown coincided with an unprecedented attack on fundamental rights and freedoms, in which nearly 60 Kenyans were killed by state agents.”
They contended that internet freedom in Kenya is increasingly under threat from emerging forms of digital authoritarianism.
Also named as respondents inthe case are William Kabogo, CS ICT and Digital Economy and Dorcas Oduor the Attorney General.
They further pointed out that no law or court order sanctioned the June 2024 internet shutdown or the 2023 and 2024 suspension of Telegram.
Even so, the June 2024 internet shutdown lasted several days causing daily GDP losses of $6.3 million and disproportionately affecting small businesses and women.
