Kenyan Politicians Banned from Sending Unsolicited SMS

Kenyan politicians have been banned from sending unsolicited campaign SMS messages by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

The new directive, aimed to curb spread of hate messages in the campaign period, also states that any SMS politicians intend to send out should first be sent to the CCK for vetting at least 48 hours before they are scheduled to be sent out.

Other requirements are:

• The sponsor of the message must be explicitly identified
• The messages must also be in English or Swahili
• The messages can only be sent out between 8am and 6pm

These guidelines apply to messages sent out in bulk. SMS messaging were said to have been used to spread hate before and during the 2007 post election violence in the country. CCK hopes these new guildlines, coupled with SIM card registration, will help curb the use of SMS to spread hate and incite violence.

Source: Mwakilishi.com