Short Leash on Bloggers

Usually the first thing that pops into mind tends to make a good story for most bloggers. Sharing what’s on your mind with the rest of the world is the primary goal. With the recent torch on bloggers and internet users, the online platform seems not to be a safe place to tread on. What was initially thought to be a captivating expression of opinion turns out to be a cause of action for power hungry and insecure people; or personal attacks on the writer by hateful web trolls. In the end you are left to question your end game and the reason for writing, innocent as the initial intention was. Blogging is continually growing in popularity. The reach of all these sites from anywhere at the click of a link and the influence on readers make bloggers a target for regulation.

The law isn't quite elaborate on regulating bloggers as it is on journalists who influence the public more than any other body. This leaves prosecutors grappling with what law to charge someone under for posting something that violates the complainant. After all one cannot be punished for an offence not prescribed under the law. The Media Council Act, 2013 is aimed at regulating Journalism. Interestingly, the Act infers to bloggers as journalists by virtue of their publication to the public of any written, audio, or video material and includes materials disseminated through the internet online. A line ought to be drawn between journalism and blogging. Journalists acquire educational training and are accredited by virtue of their training to practice. A blogger on the other hand is any person including a journalist, group of persons, corporate body or institution with a computer, knowledge and interest in a subject, and a will to communicate to anyone who’ll listen. Some do not know the first thing about what it entails to be a journalist.

Section 4 of the Media Council Act expresses that the Act shall apply media enterprises, journalists, media practitioners, foreign journalists accredited under the act and consumers of media services. Again, there’s the ambiguity. No mention of bloggers.  It further establishes a code of conduct under Section 33 and a platform for complaints (Section 27) to anyone aggrieved by any publication or by the conduct of any journalist or media enterprise. So, Is a food blogger to be held liable for a recipe she publishes and the consumer gets food poisoning after trying it? A topical blogger reprimanded for having a view different from those of an influential or powerful individual?

The code of conduct requires a person subject to the Act to write fair, accurate and unbiased stories on matters of public interest, nothing that otherwise falls short of factual accuracy and fairness. Such a provision will not rub off well with entertainment bloggers whose posts are mostly founded on rumors or half-baked facts to spur frenzy amongst fans.

The whole purpose of regulating blogging and social media is to crush the idea that the internet is separate from the concerns that have been attached to other previous media such as print & main stream media. Regulation of blogging and use of social media (especially users on Twitter and Facebook) emerges from the wake of continued cyber attacks, hate speech, posts that incite violence, degraded morality and care-free view that one cannot be held accountable for online publications. It is a progressive venture and states such as Germany and U.S have started by regulating adverts on blogs. The internet is with us to stay; soon there will be strict rules that regulate publications or comments that violate the rights of an individual or public interest. Hopefully such rules will not have any retrospective effects, or a many will find their necks under the guillotine.

The Thing About Resolutions

It is 2015, a new year and almost everyone in the world is psyched about what lies ahead. Some are just happy that it’s yet another year with opportunities to explore and better chance to make up for lost time in 2014. At the peak of high celebrations was the making of New Year resolutions; Plans or long term expectations to be achieved during the course of the year. The tradition of making these resolutions can be traced to as early as after the Great Depression when adults then started making plans to recover from the big financial flop.

While a good number of people go to a great extent of making clearer blue prints of what is intended to be achieved and actually go through with those plans, another greater majority is just lost in the frenzy of the moment. Excitement coupled with starting a new life phase keeps one so entrenched in living a blissful moment. A glimpse to hold on to before the spurge of obligations and responsibility of real life floods back. We are almost through with January; resolutions are already out the window as we’ve more or less resolved to waiting for next year. Come to think of it, the reasons why most people’s plans don’t come through may be attributed to the fact that New Year resolution bars are set too high, without putting to place clear mechanism of achieving them, and a recurring tendency of not accomplishing previous resolutions.

Money and habitual addictions is almost always at the center of it all making a list of the most broken New Year resolutions: stop spending and save, make more money, quit smoking/drinking, getting fit, eat better, donate to charity or do more volunteer work etc. Truth be told, the human mind is not that strong especially when it comes to doing away with things that make us comfortable. Once you fall off the wagon in accomplishing your plans, there might be no going back!

There is never any pressure on living up to the self-placed expectation because there is always a new day to make things right. So like new year resolutions, whatever world culture will arise in the future, the goal is to live in the moment, plan for the future as you wait for tomorrow. Do not worry about not achieving your set goals in January. You have long year ahead with  many more chances to live the life you deserve. That’s the thing about resolutions!

Art and Social Media: The Absurdities of Modern Cultures

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/12/15/disturbing-but-amazing-pictures-expose-the-absurdities-of-modern-culture-warning-graphic-images/

Legal Practice v Legal Jargon

Sitting in on a local court sessission, one gets to see the difference between a laywer and true lawyer. When listening to a lawyer, you often find yourself substituting words for those with less complex meanings. The need to wait for the subsequent sentence in order to get the meaning of the prior simply because certain phrases were too over the top, also arises. At one instance the Judge twitches in an unspoken bid to show lack of content in the lawyer's arguments. A true lawyer on the other hand expresses facts without stress on words that may mislead the court. His affluence on subject matter is commendeable. He does not need to hide behind a ton of jargon, some of which may be made up, to show his expertise. I bet this kind of lawyer make the judges' work alot easier.
The content of the submissions should be more regarded by the advocate than the complexity of his submissions. Noted by Lord Chesterfield. So pleasing the audience should in no way seek to excuse the modern advocate who sometimes seems to believe that only a well polished suit and thorough legal jargon cannot stand without support. Jargon will only fascinate the crowd. Sometimes even confuse it. The legal content however, is the backbone of practicing law.

The Law “Mashinani”

 The Law “Mashinani”

Every accused person has the right to a fair trial, which includes the right—to have an advocate assigned to the accused person by the state and at State expense, if substantial injustice would Otherwise result, and to be informed of this right promptly; Article 50(2)(h) of the constitution of Kenya. So, the common mwananchi who can barely put food on the table finds himself in trouble with the law. He’s arrested and detained in police custody. The prosecution quickly picks up the case and the accused is set to appear before court. There is only one problem. Who is going to represent this poor man?

Of course many of us would be quick to answer: the state will provide a lawyer! There are lawyers who offer pro bono, even law firms dedicated to have each of their advocates pursue cases on such terms every year; There are NGOs kind enough to take up the cases!

The real position is that even as these quick answers are given, something still rings at the back of your mind telling you that even these aren’t enough. The NGOs can only do so much. Willing advocates can only help a few. Even with efforts to provide basic legal education to the public solves just but a small percentage of the problem. The legal education provided is never enough to help one stand in court against a professionally trained prosecutor.

Every day, more and more Kenyans who do not have access to lawyers are subjected sentences that would be less grievous had they had legal representation. Possibly an acquittal per se. Some of these people go to court with the most random “legal” missiles they picked up in a conversation in the village, or advice given to them by fellow inmates in remand. The very unfortunate ones would merely say that they are suffering in prison. They are the breadwinners of their families and their children back at home are suffering. When asked to cross-examine witnesses, questions asked are very unlikely to have a bearing on their case. As a matter of fact, the best chance of an acquittal would be a withdrawal of the complaint provided for under Section 204, Criminal Procedure Code. Let’s face it though, how often does that happen? The other scenario is when the accused is found to have no case to answer (Sec 210 CPC), or on a much lower scale, non-appearance of complainant at hearing (Sec 202 CPC).

The state of our current justice system is that which comprises more offenders than legal representatives with an approximate ratio of 163:1 in Nairobi and Rift Valley. The irony of the numerous law graduates countrywide who have not been absorbed into the mainstream practice aside. While it still doesn’t at all cross the minds of most people to help them, we all appreciate the efforts put by those who are trying. As the country competes with the rest of the world to have the best justice system, the law “mashinani” is still a challenge we hope to address soon. So the best chance yet of not having to worry about legal representation is to stay out of trouble.