Mt Kenya TV License Suspended for Airing Pornographic Content During Kids Show

Mt Kenya TV has had its license suspended by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for airing inappropriate content.

The station owned by Slopes Media House Ltd is accused of violating the Kenya Information and Communications (Broadcasting) Regulations of 2009 by airing adult content during a children’s show on April 19th.

In a statement on Wednesday, CA said the show featured an animated movie titled Free Jimmy, which contains scenes of sexually explicit content, drug abuse, robbery, and violence.

CA adds that the show exposed minors, who are at home for the school holidays, to offensive content.

“…the Licensee acknowledged that the content aired was indeed inappropriate for the watershed period. The licensee attributed the violation to a content mix-up in the control room but failed to explain how the offensive content had found its way into the content server,” CA director-general Mercy Wanjau said.

As a result, the TV station was ordered to go off-air for at least four weeks to put in place appropriate safeguards to ensure compliance with its license terms and conditions.

The authority further slapped the media house with a Sh500,000 fine for non-compliance issues that have remained outstanding for over 120 days.

Mt Kenya TV is also required to avail all its employees to undergo mandatory training of the Programming Code by the CA within seven days and review its editorial policy to ensure compliance with the law on the protection of children.