Court Update: The court suspends cyber harassment section in newly assented Computer Misuse law

 The High Court on Wednesday, October 22, temporarily suspended the enforcement of the controversial Computer Misuse and Cybercrime (Amendment) Act, 2024, assented to by President William Ruto on October 15, 2025, pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by gospel musician Reuben Kigame and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), who argue that the law violates multiple constitutional rights, including freedom of expression, privacy, and digital anonymity. 

In rhe ruling, Judge Lawrence Mugambi of the Milimani Law Courts ordered that the temporary suspension would allow for the determination of an application filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and former Presidential Aspirant Reuben Kigame, which seeks to declare the newly signed law as unconstitutional, null and void.

The petitioners contend that the Act’s vague provisions criminalizing false, misleading, or “mischievous” information, mandatory government-verified social media accounts, and obligations on platforms to remove flagged content preemptively effectively grant the state excessive power to police online speech, threaten whistleblowers, journalists, and regime critics, and weaken protections under the Data Protection Act of 2019, while also challenging the legislative process as unconstitutional for bypassing Senate approval under Article 110.