Court gives KFCB nod to regulate social media content

The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) has been granted a reprieve after the High Court ruled that it is within its mandate to regulate content on social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, in a bid to protect Kenyan cultural and moral values.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi at the Milimani Law Courts, the court dismissed a petition filed by singer and content creator William Getumbe Kinyanjui.

The judge found that the KFCB had acted within its legal mandate when it directed Getumbe to take down two controversial music videos uploaded to YouTube earlier this year.

However, the court also ruled that the legal requirement for all audio-visual content intended for public display to first be examined and approved by the KFCB is impractical and constitutes an unjustifiable intrusion into personal privacy.

“In these contemporary times, when anyone with a smartphone can record a video and upload it to social media for public access, it is absurd to expect the Board to enforce the requirement of examining, classifying, and rating every such video—or to demand licence fees prior to filming and uploading amateur content,” said Justice Mugambi.

Getumbe had argued that his content, recorded using a smartphone and shared on platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, fell outside the scope of the Films and Stage Plays Act.

He maintained that the Act was intended to regulate conventional film production, not amateur social media content, and challenged a licence fee demand of Sh234,200 from the Board.

He also sought court orders to bar the KFCB and its CEO from engaging social media platforms to remove his posts or suspend his accounts.

However, the court rejected his arguments, ruling that the law does not differentiate between professional and amateur content, or between traditional media and digital platforms.

“As for the claim that the Films and Stage Plays Act does not grant KFCB powers to regulate social media activity, this argument is untenable. The regulation applies to any audio-visual recording made available for public exhibition,” the court stated.

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