The legal threats undermining press freedom in Kenya, and how to address them.
Overview
Despite constitutional protections, journalists and media organisations in Kenya face systematic legal attacks through the abuse of legal processes, regressive legislation, and escalating technological, financial and commercial threats that undermine press freedom and weaken industry sustainability.
To better understand and address this challenging environment, we partnered with ALT Advisory in association with Power Law Africa to conduct this research. Through extensive research on legislation and recent media freedom cases, consultations with journalists nationwide, and the insights and guidance of a panel of Kenyan media and legal experts, our report provides a comprehensive overview of the media freedom landscape in Kenya, alongside practical recommendations for driving change.
We found that 42% of respondents have faced legal threats in response to their work, including arrest, litigation, and shutting down online platforms. Our research identifies that these threats sit within six primary categories, from defamation lawsuits to unlawful surveillance and cybercrime.
Critically, 65% of media professionals highlighted legal protections as their top support need to ensure journalism sustainability, and over half expressed a lack of confidence in the legal system’s ability to protect journalists covering sensitive topics. Sustained multisectoral coordination and collective action will be pivotal to addressing these complex threats and weak protections, to defend press freedom in Kenya at a crucial time. The recommendations in our report set out clear, evidence-based steps that can be taken by actors across the media freedom ecosystem.
This report builds on the 2023 global “Weaponizing the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom” report to examine how legal provisions and processes are weaponised to intimidate, silence, and economically weaken media actors in Kenya.
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Report snapshot
of media actors have faced legal threats in response to their work.
This includes litigation, arrest, and the shutdown of online platforms.
of respondents identified journalist safety as one of the biggest legal threats to journalism in Kenya.
A failure to enforce existing protections has fostered a culture of impunity, as evidenced by cases of threats, physical assaults, harassment, and even killings.
of respondents highlighted legal protections as their top support need.
Institutional weaknesses, such as inadequate oversight of surveillance powers, undermine the effectiveness of existing legal protections.
Key legal threats
Abuse of court processes
Weak law implementation
Regressive legislation
Technology-facilitated harms
Journalist safety and impunity
Media industry sustainability
Core recommendations
While these challenges are not unique to Kenya, solutions require collaborative action across the country's media freedom ecosystem. Recommendations include the need to:
- Strengthen implementation of access to information and community media laws
- Confront abuse of court processes through legal protections and judicial reform
- Mitigate the impact of repressive and disabling legislation through building evidence and driving public awareness
- Address technology-facilitated harms
- Advance the sustainability of journalism through stronger legal support mechanisms, education and robust policies
