Court orders State to respond to Babu Owino’s petition on Cybercrime law

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino/FILE

The High Court has directed the State to file its response to a petition by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino challenging sections of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi, sitting on behalf of Justice Mwamuye, issued the directions on Wednesday after reading the MP’s urgent application filed on October 28.

The court directed that the respondents, including the Cabinet Secretary for ICT, the Attorney General, the National Assembly, and the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee, be served with the petition by October 31 and file their responses by November 3.

In the case, Babu Owino argues that the recently enacted amendment to the Cybercrimes law is unconstitutional and represents an alleged attempt to impose moral policing in digital spaces under the guise of protecting public morals.

He wants the court to suspend and eventually nullify Section 6(1)(j) of the amended law, which criminalises the creation, distribution, or consumption of “pornographic, immoral, or sexually explicit content.”

Through his petition, the legislator contends that the provision violates several constitutional rights, including freedom of expression, privacy, and human dignity.

He says the section is vague and overbroad and gives the government arbitrary power to determine what constitutes immorality, risking opening the door to censorship and abuse.

“Section 6(1)(j) of the Amendment Act criminalises 'immoral or sexually explicit content' without defining such terms. This prohibition is overly broad, vague, and unreasonable,” he states in court documents.

He further argues that Kenya is a secular state, and therefore, public morality cannot be legislated on the basis of religious or cultural values.

Babu Owino also takes issue with what he terms the State’s “paternalistic reasoning” that restricting digital content will reduce depression and divorce rates, calling such claims scientifically baseless and socially regressive.

According to him, the law unjustifiably limits constitutional freedoms and infringes on the autonomy of adults to make private choices.

The petition is anchored on several constitutional provisions, including on freedom of expression and access to information, as well as human dignity and privacy.

The MP also invokes international human rights instruments such as Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), arguing that Kenya’s new cybercrime provision violates international standards on free expression.

He is seeking declarations that the section is unconstitutional, null, and void, and an order prohibiting the respondents from enforcing it. He also wants a conservatory order suspending the implementation of the impugned provision pending the determination of the petition.

"An Order of Prohibition restraining the Respondents, their servants, or agents from enforcing or relying on Section 6(1)(j) of the said Act," court documents state.

The case adds to a growing number of litigants who have moved to court challenging the new law.

Earlier this month, Section 27 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act was temporarily suspended, pending the determination of other petitions questioning its constitutionality.

The suspended provisions are part of amendments signed into law by President William Ruto earlier on October 15, 2025.

The matter will come up for further directions on November 5, 2025.