Authorities Must Lift Social Media Block Amid Crackdown Ahead of Election in Uganda January 13, 2021 Share Share Responding to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shutting down access to social media services in the run up to the January 14 general election, Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said: “Amid concerns over threatening rhetoric from high-ranking government officials, use of violence and an escalating crackdown on political opposition, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and civil society actors, it is alarming that the Ugandan authorities have suspended social media networks including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and restricted people’s right to freedom of expression and access to information.