Enact tight social media rules to protect children

The proposed law to protect children from pornography, cyberbullying and other harmful online content is important and long overdue.

Other countries have such legislation that shields youth from online crooks. The Online Safety Bill, 2026, is also targeting tech firms and their executives for punitive punishment to curb abuse.

Should the proposed legislation be endorsed, parental consent will be required before children under the age of 18 can access social media. Age verification will be mandatory, with parents empowered to withdraw consent at any time.

Many young people are active on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X. Pornography and content promoting suicide are rampant. Others include hate speech, graphic violence, and the administration of harmful substances.

Service providers who fail to comply with the new rules will face a Sh500 million fine. The proposed legislation, if passed, will require social media practitioners to do a risk assessment of their content every year and remove any potentially harmful material from their platforms. They will have to conduct age verification with parents’ identities before granting access. The CEOs will face a Sh10 million fine or imprisonment. Kenya is set to join Australia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, which have strict social media policies for children’s protection.

Children are spending more time in the digital world than ever before. The crooks easily contact and extort them. As Unicef has warned, most alarming is the threat of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse. It is working with governments to effect regulation to make the digital world a safer place for children to learn and express themselves.

Though the proposed legislation is crucial, it should not be used as a cover-up for devious crackdowns that undermine cardinal freedoms and violate constitutional rights.

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