Member states of the East African Community (EAC) are toying with the idea of cobbling together a unified framework for regulations to govern the use of social media across the region. For that, members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), an organ of EAC, last week debated and passed a motion seeking to harvest consensus from the eight partner states on how to promote responsible online behaviour without undermining freedom of expression among citizens.
They converged on the assembly headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, and passed the motion sponsored by EALA MP from Kenya, Falhada Dekow Iman. Among other things, it urges the Council of Ministers and EAC partner states to take note that fragmented national approaches had weakened citizen protections and complicated enforcement of ‘social media hygiene’ efforts, even as misinformation, hate speech and cyberbullying thrived.
The Iman motion urges the Council of Ministers to fast-track a regional framework that upholds media independence and free speech, while enhancing measures against online misbehaviour through a raft of measures: harmonised laws, joint public education initiatives, and coordinated action among regulators across the EAC. It also calls for the establishment of an EAC Multi-Stakeholder Digital Governance Forum bringing together policymakers, civil society, academia, and the private sector to provide ongoing guidance on digital rights issues. Additionally, the motion seeks to have the EAC conduct a comprehensive study on the social and economic impacts of social media in East Africa.
Intriguingly, a quick scan of the media landscape within the eight partner states – Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda – returned that only Burundi Times reported on the important EALA resolution. It was made at a time when governments all over the world are grappling with challenges brought by ever-changing dynamics of digital advances and public use of social media.
In keeping with the EALA rules, the endorsed motion, which is a common recommendation, is then submitted to the EAC Council of Ministers for consideration and action.
It would do justice to the EALA resolution if the media picked the story from Arusha and put it into context. Why did the assembly list the motion for discussion when it did? What is the history and current performance of EAC member states in handling media and public engagement on the digital space? What type of cybercrime laws have they passed to address digital ‘misbehaviour’ such as cyberbullying, hate speech and mis/disinformation, and how, intrinsically, have they respected the boundaries of media freedom and human rights?
For example, in Kenya (the home country of the sponsor of the motion), there’s the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act (2018) which has undergone several amendments. The High Court suspended sections of it, declaring them unconstitutional. The law imposes heavy fines for an array of breaches, but critics accuse the government of misusing some of its provisions to suppress dissent and curtail online freedoms.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Digital Code (Ordinance-Law No.23/010, March 2023) covers electronic communications, cybersecurity, data protection, and cybercrimes. However, the government uses it (and related laws) to target critics, jail journalists and civil society activists, and clamp down on media establishments. A similar scenario obtains in other EAC member states.
For instance, even with its comprehensive cybercrime laws, Tanzania effected a nationwide internet shutdown on the general election day of October 29, 2025, in a national communication penumbra that lasted almost one week. Elsewhere, the governments of Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda invoke existing cybercrime laws to heavily fine or jail journalists and critics. Somalia’s Council of Ministers approved the Cybercrime Bill on August 22, 2025, even as the media complained there was no public consultations over the proposed law detailing hefty fines likely targeting the media and critics.
It is noteworthy that EALA endorsed Iman’s motion just a day after parliament of South Sudan passed the Cybercrime and Computer Misuse Bill, 2005, a proposed law critics have warned could be misused by the state to restrict fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Transitional Constitution.
Lesson learnt? EAC partner states hold a bad individual record of misusing existing cybercrimes laws to stifle democratic rights and punish critics. They are battling goodwill forces to right things, and the media must oppose their Arusha attempt at rushing to share a regional blanket of obnoxious legislative influenza.
