Kenya is doing better than most Western countries in terms of tolerance to digital expression, a new report has indicated.
The report ranks the United Kingdom as the country with the most arrests for online comments, with over 12,183 arrests. Belarus is ranked second with over 6,205 arrests while Germany ranks third with 3,500 arrests.
China and Turkey complete the top 5 with 1,500 and 500 arrests respectively.
Egypt, which ranked 16th globally, is the leading country in Africa with most arrests for online comments
In Kenya, journalists and activists topped the list of the most arrested individuals for their online activities and coverage of the 2024 and 2025 protests.
A report by CIVICUS released on 24 June 2025 revealed that youth led protests led to the arrests of over 1500 individuals between June and July 2025, with the most famous arrests being those of Mark Amiani, Francis Mwangi and John Nzau following protests over Albert Ojwang’s death.
Ojwang was arrested over a social media post concerning a senior police official and died in custody from injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, which sparked nationwide protests.
A report by Amnesty International released on 18 November 2025 estimated over 3000 arrests and 83 enforced disappearance in the 2024 and 2025 youth led protests.
A Software Developer, Rose Njeri was arrested for creating an Anti-Finance Bill website that allowed people to email parliament, calling for the Finance Bill 2025 to be withdrawn and was accused of violating the country’s computer misuse and cybercrime law.
On October 15, President William Ruto assented to the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Amendment Bill, 2024, officially making it law, introducing tough penalties for online misconduct, particularly cyber harassment.
Anyone found guilty of cyber harassment faces a fine of up to Ksh 20 million, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both. Additionally, the court may direct service providers to share subscriber information to help identify offenders behind the harassment.
