Media Council of Kenya Director for Media Training and Development Victor Bwire has warned that misinformation, harmful online content and weak digital regulation are exposing children and young people to radicalization, exploitation and unsafe online spaces.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Monday, he said governments must invest in media literacy and responsible internet use instead of relying only on punitive laws, arguing that many young people lack the capacity to distinguish harmful content from credible information.
Bwire said African countries were facing growing challenges linked to online misinformation, violent extremism, harmful dating sites and unregulated digital platforms.
He questioned how governments and media institutions could effectively moderate online content and protect children from dangerous material circulating on social media platforms.
“How do we help our children become responsible users and consumers of content?” Bwire asked. “Laws alone will not solve this.”
He pointed to countries such as Sweden, Spain, Australia and China, saying some governments had already introduced media literacy programmes in schools and stricter rules on children’s screen time and online access.
“In Sweden, media literacy is introduced in primary schools to help children understand that content online can be manipulated,” he said. “Countries that invest in research benefit because they study these systems over time.”
Bwire also warned that Kenya risked falling behind because discussions around online safety often focused on punishment rather than education and prevention.
“We are not process people, we are event people,” he said. “We want to punish, but how many people will you arrest when millions of Kenyans are using internet-enabled phones?”
He called for broader engagement between governments, media organisations and global technology companies to address misinformation, harmful online behaviour and the exploitation of media content online.
Bwire also raised concerns about digital platforms benefiting from media content without compensating creators and broadcasters.
“You have spent money producing content, but you find it circulating freely online,” he said. “There must be frameworks where digital platforms compensate content creators.”
His remarks come amid growing debate in Kenya over online safety, cyber regulation and the impact of social media on children and young people.
Article 53 of the Constitution of Kenya states that every child has the right “to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour.”
The constitutional provision has increasingly been cited in discussions around child online protection and harmful digital content in Kenya.