By KPC Reporter
Parts of Kenya’s legal landscape are being exploited to intimidate, silence and economically weaken journalists and media houses — undermining press freedom, a new report reveals.
The “Weaponising the Law: Threats to Media Freedom in Kenya” report, published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in partnership with ALT Advisory and Power Law Africa, paints a stark picture of everyday Kenyan journalists facing legal harassment and systemic pressure.
It finds that 42% of media professionals surveyed have faced legal threats — including court cases, arrest and even shutdowns of digital outlets — simply for doing their jobs.
“I was threatened with legal action for posting content that highlighted the dirty and corrupt deeds [of] a politician… including a threat to my life as a content creator,” one journalist told researchers.
The research identifies six major legal threats confronting the media, ranging from abuse of court processes and regressive legislation to technology-facilitated harms and weak enforcement of existing protections.
One respondent said they were arrested and branded a spy while reporting on gang violence in Western Kenya, only to be released later.
Another described how *community media outlets face withdrawal of funding or even mobilisation of local opposition when their reporting displeases local leaders.
The survey also highlights a growing lack of confidence among media workers in the justice system to protect them when covering sensitive topics.
Over half of respondents said they did not trust legal institutions to uphold media freedoms, while 65% cited stronger legal protections as their top support need.
Recent civil society reports have raised concerns about the state’s increasing use of cybercrime and public order laws — including against young activists and protestors — in a pattern critics describe as “lawfare.”
Media rights defenders argue that this trend could undermine democratic accountability.
“A free press is not an optional luxury in a democracy,” said one legal expert involved in the research.
“When the law is used as a bludgeon rather than a shield, citizens’ right to information is imperiled.”
The report offers a series of recommendations aimed at reversing these trends.
These include strengthening implementation of access to information laws, reforming court procedures to protect journalists, countering regressive legislation, addressing digital harms, and establishing robust legal support for media organisations.
The findings sound a cautionary note: legal safeguards are only as strong as their enforcement.