KFCB seeks views on new Films Act
By Caroline Kamau
The Kenya Film Classification Board is seeking views from Kenyans on the new Films and Stage Plays Act that will help regulate the sector.
The board says the entry of unregulated film material into the market was to blame for the rise in radicalization of young Kenyans into terror cells and there was need for safeguards in content generation to clamp on evil minds.
The review of the Films and Stage Plays Act has been met with a bit of apprehension by some media stakeholders who feel the law was being reviewed to clamp down on undesirable media content.
The CEO of the Kenya Film Classification Board Ezekiel Mutua who spoke on the sidelines a consultative forum ahead of the drafting of the new law in Nyeri said this notion couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mutua said besides the protection of local talent, the law will seek to protect the country from the cultural imperialism that comes with the domination of foreign media content by establishing regulatory regimes that encourage the production of homegrown content.
The CEO of the Kenya Copyright Board, Edward Sigei, said his board is collaborating closely with KFCB to ensure the new law is not in conflict with existing copyright and that it will encourage the growth of industries that depend on intellect.
On his part Nyeri County Commissioner Oniangoi ole Sosio said there has been concerns in security circles that the entry of unregulated content was to blame for radicalization of youth into the terror world.
