Parents who let children watch pornography to be charged, Kabogo says

According to CS Kabogo, children should be protected from accessing harmful content online and parents should be at the forefront of ensuring that their children do not encounter such material while using gadgets.

While condemning the rise in misuse of the Cybercrimes Act, Kabogo noted that Kenya will borrow concepts from countries that have achieved instilling these regulations to safeguard their youth.

"The other day I saw in Geneva that they are introducing SIM cards to be used by underage children. They cannot access some sites ...and we will get there," he said in an interview with Radio Citizen.

"If you leave your phone with your child to play games, but your phone has access to all those sites. And children are curious, and they will access those sites, so what are we doing to our children? If a report gets to us that you gave your child an opportunity to watch pornography, we will charge you because you are spoiling your child."

He added that the Ministry is in the process of amending the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, which will seek to tame misuse of online platforms and misinformation.

"We are not gagging you but we are saying behave morally. I saw the other day they're putting people in coffins. Would you want your children to see that? We have embraced a nation of ill content on social media," he noted.

He condemned the abuse of political leaders using AI-generated images, saying that the provisions of media freedoms have been severely breached.

Section 37 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act 2018 dictates that any person who transfers, publishes, or disseminates the intimate or obscene image of another person commits is liable to a fine not exceeding Ksh.200,00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.