Kenya Government Seeks to Monitor, Regulate WhatsApp Conversations

The government is seeking to monitor and regulate popular online services such as WhatsApp and Skype.

In the new move that is likely to attract resistance, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) seeks to compel internet-based service providers to share data with the State.

To facilitate the plan, CA has moved to recruit a consultant to study and determine how to regulate over-the-top services (OTTS) run by firms such as Facebook, which operates WhatsApp.

The regulator wants to have some control over the platforms in the same way it regulates traditional phone products such as voice calls and text messages.

“Given that providers of OTTS are likely to gather their subscribers’ data and may not be domiciled in Kenya,” says CA in a statement.

The study by the consultancy will help CA decide on what aspects of the online services it will regulate.

Under the agency's regulation, owners of services such as WhatsApp will be required to adhere to “security and confidentiality provisions” demanded by law.

The increased use of WhatsApp in Kenya has been blamed for the decline in the number of messages sent per month per subscriber in recent years.

Data by CA shows that subscribers on average sent 96.3 SMS monthly between January and March 2018, a drop from 156.8 SMS in the three months to September 2017.