The rise in the use of the internet in Kenya has increased the need to learn about the do’s and dont’s when engaging through the various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Linkedin and Instagram among others to ensure one is within the law. This informed a workshop themed “The law and Internet in Kenya” held at the Nailab on 6th March 2015 led by Mugambi Laibuta, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

 

 


The conversations started with the need to define Hate Speech. This could have been informed by the proliferation of cases against bloggers. The government has either held bloggers for interrogation or charged them in court or convicted them on various charges related to hate speech.

 

   


It soon became clear that how to behave when police arrest you is crucial to determining your fate.

 

 

Rights of an arrested persons 

Online content creators need to ensure that they establish publishing standards to inform their professionalism. This includes issues on ethics and other rights that inform what can be published in their blogs.    

 

 

The other critical issue is the need to ensure that you do not infringe on others copyright.

 

    Where allegations or unconfirmed reports or issues arise, your choice of words counts.     

 Social media usage has implications beyond writing a post or comment. Practices like liking a comment and retweeting them have grave repercussions.   

   

 


In addition, checking whether your creativity is original goes a long way in ensuring you do not infringe on others intellectual property.

 

 Even when doing campaigns where you generate content for clients, intellectual property issues can also arise.  

 

And when having fun over an image, be careful as it may land you in trouble