WHAT does a film certification board do? In Kenya, at least according to Ezekiel Mutua, the head of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), the job seems to have expanded a lot. As well as certifying films, Mr Mutua and his officials have also promised to raid strip clubs to prevent a wave of “bestiality”, raged against homosexuality and threatened to regulate Netflix to prevent it from becoming a threat to national security. The wave of censoriousness has amused the Kenyan press—and made Mr Mutua into a national figure. But some Kenyans worry that it hints at a growing willingness on the part of the government to use censorship ahead of a tense general election next year.
The KFCB has existed since 1963. It has long been moralistic: in 2014 it made headlines when it banned “The Wolf of Wall Street” from distribution. But under Mr Mutua, who became the CEO last year, it has become far more active. In March, he claimed that foreigners were organising a mass sex and drugs party called “Project X” in Nairobi, which they would film and sell as pornography. In July, he threatened a nightclub over a speed-dating night he...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2f5pQ2C
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