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Uganda has taken steps to crack down on the use of social media in the country, even as its diplomatic relations with the US have taken a bad turn after a tense and contested election.
On Monday (January 18), Internet services were restored after a shutdown imposed just before the polls opened on January 14, but the ban on social media, which was originally imposed on January 13, was Has kept. Only Ugandans with virtual private networks (VPNs) that have not yet been blocked can access social media.
The concern now is that regulators have issued an indefinite ban on social media platforms. Some of the affected platforms include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Skype, and Zoom. The iOS AppStore and Google PlayStore application distribution platforms also remain blocked, which means that users without a VPN cannot download to log into social media.
The move has also made the controversial social media tax that the government introduced in 2018 irrelevant. Citizens who comply with the tax cannot access social networks. The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has yet to respond to inquiries.
The Ugandan authorities have recently had direct confrontations with American tech giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Authorities have accused tech companies of allowing their platforms to be abused by anti-regime forces. Tech companies insist they only act on users who are deemed to have violated their user policies.
A move by Facebook and Twitter to remove or suspend pro-regime accounts involved in “inauthentic coordinated behavior” further enraged the Kampala authorities, who presented this as an excuse to shut down social media before the polls.
On Sunday, Facebook flagged a congratulatory message from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to Museveni on its platform as “false information.” The message was posted on Twitter and Facebook by State House Kenya, whose accounts are verified by both platforms. State House Kenya subsequently deleted the tweets. Last month, Google also rejected a request from the Ugandan government to remove a list of pro-opposition accounts from its YouTube platform. Users report that various Google platforms are affected by the latest ban.
Uganda’s decision comes as various governments around the world have turned their attention to reducing the power and influence of privately owned social media platforms as arbiters of free speech. It has become particularly acute in the wake of outgoing US President Donald Trump’s Twitter and Facebook-led ban on various social media platforms after Trump incited a riot and attack on the US Capitol.
Icy relationships
Meanwhile, there is little chance that Silicon Valley tech giants will be able to turn to the US government to intervene on their behalf. Diplomatic relations between Uganda and the US hit a low on Tuesday (January 19) amid allegations that some US officials and diplomats are encouraging dissent in the country after the elections in which President Museveni was declared. winner of his sixth term in office amid allegations of fraud. by the opposition.
The United States and other Western countries have shown great interest in Uganda’s 2021 elections, compared to the past, and have occasionally issued statements expressing concern about events during and after the elections.
Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, 38, the opposition’s top candidate who came in second, according to official results, has been confined to his home on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, by the army and police.
REUTERS / Abubaker Lubowa
On Monday, Ugandan security forces prevented US Ambassador Natalie E Brown from visiting Bobi Wine at his home on the outskirts of the capital Kampala, where security forces held him against his will. Access to Bobi Wine has also been blocked by journalists, lawyers and other officials.
The United States government, which has already warned that there will be consequences for those undermine democracy in Uganda it issued a statement calling on its Ugandan counterparts to “… respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press.”
In response, government spokesman Ofwono Opondo accused the US government and Ambassador Brown of meddling in Ugandan domestic politics in an attempt to subvert the will of the people.
It is unclear if relations will improve with the incoming Biden administration in the White House, as Biden is expected to return to a more traditional American approach to defending human rights and democracy around the world.
Security forces also cordoned off the offices of Bobi Wine’s party, the National Unity Platform, a move that the party says is intended to derail its efforts to collect the evidence necessary to support its allegations of electoral irregularities and fraud.
Ugandan authorities appear to be following a script similar to that of 2016 when they restricted then-leading opposition candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye to his home for more than three months and raided the offices of his party, Forum for Democratic Change.
In 2016, the police prevented envoys from the European Union and the United States from visiting Dr. Besigye at his home. After a confrontation, the envoys were asked to leave their cars and a senior police official accompanied them on foot to Dr. Besigye’s home.
And the EU refused to observe the elections over accreditation concerns, including a move by Ugandan authorities to deny more than three-quarters of US applications.
The United States is a key development partner for Uganda, providing nearly $ 1 billion in much-needed aid annually and supporting other efforts by the Kampala regime on the African continent.
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