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More than 60 bloggers arrested in Kenya this year, reports say
A report by the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) reveals that no less than 60 bloggers have been hounded and arrested by police in the year 2016.
Reports say bloggers and journalists have been targets of arrests and were most times slapped with dubious charges or locked up in police cells during weekends for their remarks made on social media or blogs.
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According to Kennedy Kachwanya, chairman of BAKE, while revealing the report, “police and senior government officials are constantly looking for ways of legally intimidating bloggers and Kenyans online”.
The arrests are viewed by many as a way of muzzling freedom of expression online and according to Mr Kachwanya there are calls by the government to regulate social media more so as its popularity has shaped opinion and driven events, one of which is the recent closure of Chase Bank, which was blamed largely on the influence of social media.
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