Kenya is a youthful country with 50.1% of the total population being below 18 years. According to the census done in 2019, figures show that 21.85 million are children while the latest estimate by UNICEF is 24.9 million children under the age of 18.
The statistics do not only display a number to be quoted but a number that should be placed on the radar.
This is the population that is holding and driving the country in the future compared to the older generations which is in the apex of leadership and offices currently.
Ironically, the predecessors who play a major role in being the yardstick are divesting from their obligations and now it is a society where everyone rides on the mantra of freedoms and rights.
The safety of children not only in Kenya but also in other parts of the world is not worth being neglected at the expense of freedom and rights.
TikTok was sued in 2024 over the high degree of data amounts on millions of children under the age of 13, the case was settled when the company was ordered by the US Department of justice to pay $400 which translates to Kenyan shillings 51.7 billion, Meta is also facing waves of lawsuits in majority of the legal battled domiciled in United States.
The lawsuits seeks to address the issue of youth addiction crisis. Facebook and Instagram are alleged by the US State Attorneys General to have addictive effect, unlimited period of scrolling dabbed as doom scrolling based on the auto-play nature, notifications and likes a concept being claimed to contribute to depression anxiety, eating disorders, suicide.
This is not the first instance, a social media company sued and fined, YouTube has in the past engaged in such like legal battles.
Today, this article seeks to raise concern about children's safety while surfing over the internet and other social media platforms. In the Data Protect Acts are in place to protect children and regulate cyber activities, but this is not enough.
Kenya Housing Survey 2023/24 (KNBS and Communications Authority) indicates that households with children under the age of 15 have a higher gadget ownership at around 94.6 percent. Oftentimes there are children who have access to the internet with or without permission from adults around.
Assumption is that children are left to doom scroll even without parental oversight. The same phone the parent or the guardian used to browse over the internet whether googling, or socially interacting with the social media platforms.
The platforms lack a mechanism to gauge the user in real-time. Same phone, same platform, same algorithm different users with legal restrictions.
Children are unsafe either way. The underaged are exposed to alcoholic and illicit content, sexual content the reality that everyone is avoiding.
The Kenyan government is working to balance the matrix between the adult using smartphones and children having a consumption to rightful content, since they deserve to be a techno savvy individuals considering the current global trend.
Parents, and guardians have to assist government in ensuring the children are safe and help in the adoption of government policies because it is not one man walk.
The safety of the children should be addressed to avoid moral decadence in future and time to solve the impending danger is now.
Thanks for reading.
By: Glen Don
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