Suing someone for defamation over a Facebook, WhatsApp or TikTok post
Defamation Act; Limitation of Actions Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
If someone posts false claims that damage your reputation, on social media or anywhere else, you can file a civil case for libel or slander and ask the court for damages. You must file within 12 months of the publication.
- Deadline
- Libel or slander case: within 12 months of the publication
- Where
- The magistrates' court or High Court, including online on the Judiciary e-filing platform (efiling.court.go.ke)
Steps
- File a civil case for libel or slander against the person who published it. The court decides how much in damages is fair.
- You can file online: sign up on the Judiciary e-filing platform (efiling.court.go.ke) and have your account activated.
Watch out
- Truth is a defence. If the main charges are proved true, the case can fail even if a minor detail isn't.
- Fair comment is a defence for opinions based on facts that are proved.
- Defamation cases can't go to the Small Claims Court.
- The National Legal Aid Service will not give free legal aid for a defamation case, so plan to pay for your own lawyer or act for yourself.
- Under the Defamation Act, "words" include pictures, visual images and gestures, so a meme, photo or edited image can be defamatory, not just text.
- The Act treats radio and TV broadcasts as permanent publication (libel). It says nothing about internet posts, so whether an online post is libel or slander is for the court to decide.
Who this covers
- If spoken words attack you in your job, profession or business, you don't have to prove you lost money.
- If a libel falsely links you to a crime punishable by 3 or more years in jail, the court must award at least KSh 400,000.
- If the libel is about a crime punishable by death, the award can't be less than KSh 1 million.
Official sources (5)
- Defamation Act (Cap. 36) new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Limitation of Actions Act (Cap. 22) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Small Claims Court Act (No. 2 of 2016) new.kenyalaw.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for E-filing System judiciary.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Legal Aid Act, No. 6 of 2016 (Revised Edition 2017) nlas.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026