Access Now 20 January 2021 | 10:14 am
On January 13, the eve of the 2021 presidential election in Uganda, the government ordered a complete internet shutdown. Voters headed out to the polls with no methods of online communication or tools to access information about the election process or outcome.
Authorities have now lifted the four-day total internet blackout, letting people gradually get back online. But this was only after sitting president Yoweri Museveni had already been declared the winner claiming (once again) the position of power he has held since 1986. The government is still blocking social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, which
remain inaccessible in Uganda without circumvention tools.
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By Rachel Alexander web posted January 18, 2021
The MSM breathlessly reported that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni shut down social media prior to the January 14th presidential election, comparing the move to President Trump’s criticisms of social media here. But the reality is his actions are more comparable to what the left is doing to conservatives and Trump. He’s just more bold about it. The left here finds ways to undermine our republic and elections that appear to be legal and constitutional, as long as you believe their claims. If you don’t believe them, you are labeled a conspiracy theorist and risk being doxed.
Our Presidential Election Wasn t Too Different from Third World Uganda s freerepublic.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from freerepublic.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Customers in the queue at the MTN shop Lugogo, Kampala, UGANDA, May 2020. Photo by Jacqueline Banya / ILO-Kampala via Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Last year in March, the Ugandan government joined the world’s fight against COVID-19 with strict measures and restrictions to control its spread throughout the country.
As citizens turned to the internet as a lifeline to access critical news about coronavirus regulations, exchange opinions, and share local information, the government activated several different cyber laws to criminalize the sharing of “fake information,” including the Computer Misuse Act (2011), which regulates the flow and exchange of information in digital spaces.
In a country where authorities already crackdown on media, dissenting voices, and government critics, this increased criminalization of mis- and disinformation during the pandemic infringed on citizens’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information.