•The guidelines extend the burden of verification of intended users of their SIM cards to service providers.
•The regulator will switch off all unregistered SIM cards by April 15, 2022.
Image: FILE
The latest push by the government to protect minors from online abuse could see parents and mobile service providers cough up to Sh300,000 in fines for failing to register SIM cards used by children under the minors' names.
The proposed Child Online Protection and Safety Guidelines released last week require parents to provide the identity of a child when registering SIM cards to be used by the minor.
This is a move from the current arrangement where parents use their credentials to register SIM cards for their children.
"Mobile phone subscribers are informed of the need to appropriately register their SIM cards and declare the intended subscribers of the SIM cards," the guidelines released by the Communications Authority of Kenya said in part.
The regulator will switch off all unregistered SIM cards by April 15, 2022.
The new measures are aimed at giving children better protection from online risks such as cyberbullying, pornography, identity theft inappropriate contact with adults.
The guidelines extend the burden of verification of intended users of their SIM cards to service providers.
"Mobile service providers in the development of age-verification mechanism (should) ensure that all SIM cards that are to be used by children/minors shall be registered," the guidelines state.
The new SIM registration regulations will enable the Communications Authority of Kenya to develop a registry of children using smartphones in the country.
This will be the first time the regulator will have such a registry as it intensifies measures to restrict the exposure of minors to harmful web content.
The registration of SIM cards will be done under the Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of SIM-cards) Regulations, 2015.
Usually, guidelines are not enforceable by law but are given for purposes of acting as a moral compass.
But when conducted under the regulations, parents or telecom firms that fail to abide by the registration guidelines could face a six-month jail term or be fined Sh300,000.
Internet safety for children has become a big concern as more minors use smartphones and surf the internet at a relatively younger age.
This is largely attributed to the falling prices of gadgets and increased usage of mobile phones by minors to access online education content, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.