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Content owners get boost in the proposed anti-piracy law
The State seeks to combat online piracy, particularly illegal streaming of live sports, which is among the key factors increasingly eating into pay-TV companies’ revenues.
Kenya is proposing a legal framework that would allow copyright holders to quickly obtain orders, forcing internet service providers (ISPs), social media platforms and search engines to block access to pirated content.
A draft Bill published by the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) will enable copyright owners to apply to a tribunal for orders requiring ISPs such as Safaricom, Zuku and Starlink; social media platforms like X and Telegram; search engines and video-sharing platforms to disable access to infringing content.
The Copyright Disputes Tribunal will determine such applications within 72 hours, for rights holders to respond quickly to piracy of copyrighted movies, sports broadcasts and other digital content.
This is a major step in the crackdown on illegal movie and sports streaming sites, which are popular in the country. Previously, copyright disputes have taken up to years in court before claimants can obtain orders for ISPs to block them.
“Where expeditious action is required to prevent manifest prejudice to a rights holder, they may apply to the tribunal for an order to block access to online locations providing infringing content,” the Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2026, says.
The proposed law seeks to revise the Copyright Act of 2022, which allows copyright owners to give takedown notices to ISPs over content distributed on their platforms illegally.
Now, for live programming such as sports matches, the proposed Bill allows rights holders to seek pre-emptive injunctions to block unauthorised streaming before or during an event.
“For a live event, a rights holder may apply to the tribunal for a pre-emptive injunction to block unauthorised access,” the Bill reads. It defines ‘online intermediaries’ broadly to include ISPs, social media platforms, online marketplaces, search.
While the Bill shields intermediaries from liability for copyright infringement in certain circumstances, that protection applies only if they act promptly when notified of infringing content.
Intermediaries must remove or disable access to copyrighted material within 48 hours after receiving a valid takedown notice from a rights holder. They must also notify the user responsible for posting the content within 24 hours.
Failure to comply could attract fines of up to Sh200,000, while repeat violations could draw penalties of up to Sh500,000 per offence.
The Bill also requires intermediaries to implement repeat-infringer policies, including notifying users of violations, tracking infringements and terminating accounts responsible for repeated copyright breaches.
Platforms may also adopt voluntary measures such as content-recognition technologies to identify infringing content.
The State seeks to combat online piracy, particularly illegal streaming of live sports, which is among the key factors increasingly eating into pay-TV companies’ revenues.
In 2019, pay-TV operator MultiChoice Kenya went to court seeking orders compelling the country’s largest telco, Safaricom, and Jamii Telecom to block 141 websites illegally streaming sports content on their networks.
It was not three years after MultiChoice issued takedown notices to the ISPs that the case was resolved. In 2022, the High Court ordered the internet providers to permanently block the sites.
ISPs have previously opposed the takedown provisions, citing concerns that the laws turn them into regulators, violate user rights, and create untenable liabilities.
Illegal streaming of movies, television series and premium sports channels such as MultiChoice’s SuperSport is popular in Kenya, as the companies struggle to sustain their subscriptions.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya shows that a large share of local households own pay-TV decoders but are not paying for the services. MultiChoice’s GoTV, for instance, had about 2.8 million registered customers by March 2025, but only 362,543, representing 12.8 percent, were active.
Of DStv’s 1.24 million registered customers, only 230,777, or 18.6 percent, were active, while for StarTimes, 36.2 percent of its 1.9 million customers were active.
