NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, July 2, 2018

By Yinka Adegoke

Uganda’s government has kept its promise: Many Ugandans woke up today (July 1) to find that if they hadn’t paid the new tax on social-media use, services like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Skype were inaccessible.

Uganda’s government has long had an issue with social media as it tries to keep tabs on its young population. Back in February 2016, the country’s telecoms regulator blocked the internet during elections, ostensibly for security purposes. This year, the regulator proposed a tax on social-media use, designed to curb gossip online and raise billions of shillings in government revenue. That levy came after president Yoweri Museveni complained that idle talk on social media was costing the country much-needed time and income.

Photo courtesy of Ava Systems.