The Communication Authority of Kenya has launched a campaign dubbed the “Be the Cop” which seeks to sensitize parents, guardians and teachers on the various types of crimes children are exposed to on the cyberspace. The campaign also seeks to protect children besides providing avenues for redress in the event of a cyber crime. The campaign was launched during the Kenya Primary Schools Head Teachers Association (KEPSHA) Annual Conference in partnership with various stakeholders among them service providers Google, Orange, Airtel and Safaricom. The Department of Children Services, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Childline Kenya are also other partners involved in the project.The campaign comes at a time where 29 million Kenyans are able to access the internet representing close to 70% of the Kenyan population. More users are using mobile devices to access the internet amounting to 18.8 million users of the 29 million. A total of 34.8 million Kenyans are mobile subscribers representing 85.5% of the population. With a huge number of the users being youths, they have unprecedented access to the cyber space thus higher exposure to cybercrime, particularly due to the present uncontrolled nature of Internet access.
During the launch of the program, the ICT Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i acknowledged the government was putting in place legal and policy frameworks aimed at tackling cyber crime and other vices. The National Cyber Security Strategy provides plans on how to defend the country’s digital infrastructure including information security management controls and procedures. There is also the Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre which offers advice on cyber security matters and coordinates response to cyber incidents.
