The African Freedom of Expression (AFEX) condemns the blockage of social media networks in Uganda by the Ugandan Communications Commission (UCC).
The government announced on local TV station, NTV, today that it had shut down social media platforms. The UCC also tweeted that the action followed reports of people using the medium as well as mobile money to bribe voters, hence the need to block them.
Social media is seen as one of the most effective tools for citizen engagement and participation in governance today. Blockage of these channels of communication is a flagrant violation of the people’s rights to free expression.
AFEX finds the reasons for the blockage flimsy and untenable. We therefore call on the government and internet service providers to unblock the social media networks with immediate effect.
Join the campaign to unblock Social Media(SM) in Uganda using hashtag #FreeSocialMediaUganda