Twitter has today come out to comment on the state of internet shutdowns happening in Uganda head the January 14th election. In a tweet the company said; We’re hearing reports that Internet service providers are being ordered to block social media and messaging apps. We strongly condemn internet shutdowns – they are hugely harmful, violate basic human rights and the principles of the open internet.
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The tweet comes shortly after President Museveni’s national address has today come out to comment on the blocking of social media platforms. He said, “I told our people to warn those Facebook people. If they do not want to corporate, they shall not operate here. I am sure government has already closed social media”.
The President said that the other day, Facebook decided to block NRM message senders targeting them, and was wondering why this would happen. “I told our people to warn them that; If that social media channel is to be used in Uganda, it should be used equitably by all Ugandans,” the president said.
Twitter admits to shutting down some accounts
Just like Facebook, Twitter has also come out to admit that earlier this week, in close coordination with their peers, they suspended a number of accounts targeting the election in Uganda.
Twitter went to stress that access to information and freedom of expression, including the public conversation on Twitter, is never more important than during democratic processes, particularly elections.
Most Ugandans even government agencies are resorted to using VPNs to remain communicating on these social media platforms. Some social media experts we spoke to believe that this defeats the purpose of closing down these platforms that the government agencies are also relying on to communicate to the masses during this period.
