Protests against Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024 got violent, with reports of Internet throttling and disruptions adding to the chaos.
Kenyans, rallying under #RejectFinanceBill2024, took to the streets, and sadly, the protests have resulted in deaths and raised concerns about digital rights and freedom of expression.
NetBlocks, a global Internet monitor, reported that Internet disruptions are affecting Kenya and neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, likely limiting the protests’ coverage and keeping the full extent of the unrest from being seen.
The Communications Authority of Kenya initially denied any plans for an Internet shutdown, calling it a “betrayal of the constitution.”
However, yesterday, many users reported slow and unreliable Internet service. Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telco, blamed it on an outage in two undersea cables but warned customers of continued slow and intermittent service.
Digital rights advocates and civil society groups have expressed deep concerns about the potential Internet and media disruptions.
Source: techpoint
