Interior CS Kithure Kindiki on Wednesday reiterated the government’s commitment to protect the freedom of the media as they do their work.
Kindiki in a statement said the government will continue to protect journalists doing their work and take stun action against those who threaten their safety.
The CS acknowledged safety of reporters in the country has been under threat noting that security agencies will work with the media players to help protect the freedom and integrity of the media in the country.
“We will continue protecting journalists to do their job online and offline and punish those who threaten the safety of reporters in their line of work,” he said.
“We will work with all media players to ensure the current media space is not only protected but also expanded systematically in order to eliminate opaqueness in the security sector that more often than not leads to misinformation and speculation."
His statement comes even as Kenyan scribes joined the world in marking World Press Freedom Day.
This year's theme as defined by UNESCO is “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a Driver for all other Human Rights’.
The CS further noted that media freedom in the country has been threatened by the rise of fake news, deliberate disinformation, and clear hate speech.
He noted that the fake news mostly spread through social media attacks the crust of press freedom by turning upside down the media currency.
This, he said, leaves Kenyans with a thin line between facts and fiction, destroys science and promotes conspiracy and negative imagination.
