Kenya’s neighbouring country, Uganda has finally managed to ban pornography after a directive issued by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered internet service providers to block all pornographic sites.
Could Kenya be next in line?
In July, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, the UCC executive director, wrote to telecommunication companies and internet service providers, ordering them to “ensure that pornographic material is not uploaded or downloaded through its services”.
Pornhub, Xvideos and Youporn are now among 25 of the 27 banned websites that cannot be accessed on mobile phones in the country.
The banned sites were reportedly the most visited websites in the country before the ban took effect. Some of the sites that were providing pornographic material for free were reportedly carrying leaked nude videos of Ugandan celebrities while others had been used to advertise sex workers.
The Chairperson of the Pornography Control Committee, Dr. Annette Kezaabu said that there was a drop in the number of people accessing pornography after they blocked the prominent porn sites.
“As I speak, we have a team that is compiling a list of other porn sites that will be blocked,” Dr. Kezaabu said.
“We anticipate that some people will open up new sites but this is a continuous process,” she added.
Dr. Kezaabu further said that the list of blocked sites would be sent to UCC that will order internet service providers to block the sites, she added.
According to Section 13 of Uganda’s Anti-Pornography Act 2014, a person shall not produce, traffic in, publish, broadcast, procure, import, export, sell or abet any form of pornography and anyone who commits such is liable, on conviction, to a fine of UShs 10m or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years.
The ban in Kampala comes a few days after the Kenyan government announced plans to close porn websites and regulate films as one way of protecting school children in the wake rise in teenage pregnancies.
Information CS Joe Mucheru said that the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) has the mandate to regulate materials shown to children.
“The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) is now under my ministry and will work together with the CAK to ensure film content shown to our young people is regulated,” he said.
Mr. Mucheru directed the Communication Authority to filter pornographic sites to help protect children arguing that the increased access to the sites by young people has largely contributed to early pregnancies.
“Our children are our future. Let’s close the sites first, then have a debate on when to open them,” Mucheru said.
Do you think it is possible to control pornography in the country?