Kenyan High Court bars government from shutting down websites without a court order
Kenya's High Court has ruled that the government cannot shut down websites without first obtaining a court order, issuing a landmark digital rights protection for platform operators and users. A separate High Court ruling has also struck down provisions of the Cybercrimes Act, further reshaping Kenya's online speech and platform governance landscape. The dual rulings represent a significant judicial check on state power over Kenya's digital infrastructure.
Kenya's Courts: a government committee can no longer be judge and jury over what you read online
The specific thing Kenya's High Court struck down matters more than the headline suggests.
Section 6(1)(j)(a) of the Cybercrimes Amendment Act gave a government committee — NC4 — the power to order internet service providers to block any site it decided was linked to terrorism or extremism. No judge. No independent check. Just the committee's call.
That's the mechanism that's now gone. Blocking still happens; it just needs a court order first.
For every founder running a platform, a media business, or a payments app in Kenya, that single procedural shift is the difference between waking up to an arbitrary shutdown and having a legal process to fight through.
Sources · 2
- High Court Strikes Down Parts of Cybercrimes Acttechtrendske.co.ke · T2
- Kenyan High Court bars government from shutting down websites without court ordertechnext24.com · T2