You Will Soon Have To Present National ID To Access Social Media

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is directing ICT companies and service providers to roll out age verification systems to help keep children safer on the internet.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
May 21, 2025 - 16:37
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You Will Soon Have To Present National ID To Access Social Media
Social media apps on a phone. /SEARCH ENGINE LAND

Kenyans will soon have to prove their age using national ID cards before they can access major social media platforms, as part of a major government push to protect minors online.

Under new child online safety guidelines, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is directing ICT companies and service providers to roll out age verification systems to help keep children safer on the internet.

The Industry Guidelines for Child Online Protection and Safety in Kenya emphasise that children have the right to access information and express themselves freely, which is why it is crucial to ensure their safety online.

The Communications Authority (CA) says protecting children on the internet is a shared responsibility. As such, Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Content Service Providers (CSPs) are being encouraged to create age-verification systems to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content.

Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) headquarters in Nairobi. /FILE

“Develop, use and implement age verification mechanisms in the deployment of ICT products and services, with a view to facilitating children’s right to freedom of expression and access to information,” the regulator has directed in the new guidelines.

An official from the CA had confirmed that this directive will ultimately be enforced through verification of government-issued IDs. “At the beginning, we will allow the service providers to accept user-entered ages, but ultimately we will require everyone to verify that, and there’s only one way of doing age verification, and that’s through an ID,” they were quoted by Business Daily.

To make this happen, mobile service providers have been instructed to take two key actions to ensure full registration of users for certain SIM cards. First, any SIM card used by a child must be registered in accordance with the Kenya Information and Communications Act of 1998 and the 2015 SIM card registration regulations. Second, all mobile users must properly register their SIM cards and state who the actual user will be.

These new rules could lead internet service providers to introduce age verification systems before allowing users to access the web, aligning with the latest directives from the Communications Authority.

They have since attracted condemnation from a section of Kenyans, who believe that this is the latest government plan to regulate social media use in the country. An independent poll conducted by Viral Tea shows that so far, Kenyans are in disagreement with the new rules.

Still, the goal is to fight back against cyberbullying, hate speech, and misinformation—problems that thrive under online anonymity. Tying digital profiles to real-world identities would make it easier to track down scammers, trolls, and online offenders and hold them accountable.

The most reliable way to verify someone’s age online is by uploading a government-issued ID, which confirms whether they are legally old enough to access certain types of content.

Even though there’s growing global pressure to control how much time and what kind of content kids are exposed to online, no country has fully rolled out an effective age verification system for social media so far. Right now in Kenya, anyone can create and use a social media account without showing proof of age, meaning kids are exposed to the same content as adults.

The new guidelines—set to kick in within six months—are designed to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities children face online. They come at a time when there’s increased pressure on digital platforms in Kenya to step up their safety game.

Rather than banning children from using social media entirely—a route some countries are exploring—these rules aim to create a safer, more controlled experience.

The Communications Authority says the guidelines were shaped through public input and fall under its constitutional duty to protect all ICT users, including children, ensuring they have a safer digital environment.

Kenya currently scores low on global child online safety rankings, mainly due to weak regulations and inadequate systems to protect young users. According to a recent report by the global digital policy group DQ Institute, while Kenya does well in digital education and corporate responsibility from tech companies, it lags in areas like regulation, infrastructure, family support, and overall tech safety for children.

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