Navigating the digital divide: balancing the right to be forgotten and freedom of the media in Kenya
Date
2025
Authors
Maina, D. M.
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
“This research explores the relationship between the right to be forgotten and media freedoms in the Kenyan context, aiming to clarify ambiguities surrounding the interpretation of "irrelevant" and "excessive" information and develop a practical framework to reconcile these competing interests. The study evaluates the legal, institutional, and ethical dimensions influencing the right to be forgotten and media practices, offering actionable recommendations for their harmonization. The project examines Kenya's constitutional provisions on privacy and media freedom, the Data Protection Act (2019), and subsidiary regulations, alongside comparative insights from global and regional frameworks like the GDPR. It includes a review of ethical theories and case law to contextualize the right to be forgotten in Kenya's legal and social landscape. Employing a doctrinal research methodology, the study utilizes primary sources such as statutes, judicial decisions, and secondary sources like peer-reviewed journals and expert analyses. Ethical frameworks, including Bentham's Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics, are applied to assess the implications of privacy violations and media responsibilities. The study finds that this right suffers from limited definitions and unclear applications, particularly concerning "irrelevant" and "excessive" information. The current legal framework inadequately addresses the intersection of public interest and individual privacy, especially for public figures. Key recommendations include adopting the Three Principle Filtering Test to evaluate erasure requests, balancing public access to information with privacy rights, and refining statutory language to guide both media practitioners and legal adjudicators
Description
Full - text undergraduate research project
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Citation
Maina, D. M. (2025). Navigating the digital divide: Balancing the right to be forgotten and freedom of the media in Kenya [Strathmore University]. http://hdl.handle.net/11071/16102