Grounds under which one can sue for cyber bullying

Piece by: ASHLEY OTIENO

02 June 2023

• Here are some of the things that can guarantee one to classify cyber bullying as a crime.

Celebrities have on different occasions found themselves amid drama with other celebrities.

Hurtful things are said and words are randomly thrown with shade or secrets being spilled.

Most of these celebrities now end up being dragged by fans of whoever they were at war with.

And this can be classified and amount to cyber bullying.

Very few celebrities have control over what their fans say and how they react to things.

Unless in cases where someone is directly addressing the other individual and keeps on being a bully to them.

There are also cases where one pays people to bully another person but in this case, proof of payment has to be availed.

In recent months we have had the Real Housewives of Nairobi show ongoing and the ladies have said things about their fellow housewives.

That led to a stir of war or a buzz on social media and at times the other person ends up being dragged by people defending the other party.

This is the most common type of cyber bullying of cyber faced by Kenyan celebrities.

This is what the Kenyan law has to say about cyber crimes:

(2) A person who commits an offense under subsection

(1) is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding twenty million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both.

(3) A person may apply to Court for an order compelling a person charged with an offense under subsection (1) to refrain from—

(a) engaging or attempting to engage in; or

(b) enlisting the help of another person to engage in, any communication complained of under subsection (1).

The only way one can actually present a case and gets justice is if the following things are involved:

If it involves things like revenge porn.
If it constitutes defamation.
If the bullying constitutes hate speech.
If the person had an intention of intimidating the person and causing them harm.

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