By Brenda Mongare
Brendamongare171595@daystar.ac.ke
The Bill that seeks to regulate WhatsApp and Facebook groups will be thrown out, says the National Assembly’s Committee on Information Communication Technology.
The Bill sponsored by Malava Member of Parliament, Malulu Ijendi sought to compel administrators of Facebook and WhatsApp groups to obtain licenses from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) at a prescribed fee.
However, William Kisang, ICT committee chair, says the Bill is not implementable and will not see the light of day.
“We should be realistic. Even if we passed the Bill it will be quashed by the courts” said Kisang.
Godfrey Osotsi, a member of the ICT committee also disproved the Bill as he said what the Bill sought to achieve was already covered in the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crime Act passed last year by the National Assembly.
Ostosi failed to understand how the Communications Authority of Kenya would license millions of Whatsapp and Facebook groups.
The proposed Bill will require that WhatsApp group administrators store all the data of the users of the platform and submit the data to the authorities when required.
Administrators will also have to ensure that members of the WhatsApp and Facebook groups are of “age of majority”. Therefore, this will lock out minors from joining or posting comments on social media platforms controlled by adults.
Photo courtesy: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/932113/WhatsApp-Share-Data-UK-Facebook