Government condemned over social media shutdown
A man browses the Internet. Starting July 1, Ugandans will pay a fee to use social media. FILE PHOTO.
What you need to know:
- Mr Medi Kaggwa, the Chairman of UHRC said the actions of the government were arbitrary and implemented without any due process.
- Panel discussions at this year’s Forum are exploring the growing trend of internet shutdowns, the increasing presence of violence against women online, the intersection of open data and human rights, African frameworks that protect online rights and their conflicts with outdated laws, amongst others.
Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) condemned the shutdown of social media on Election Day in February 2016.
The government in a notice to telecoms ordered them to shut down social media sites and mobile money services because of national security concerns.
Mr Medi Kaggwa, the Chairman of UHRC said the actions of the government were arbitrary and implemented without any due process.
He was delivering a keynote address at the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2016 at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala on Wednesday; said cases of online violence against women had risen in 2015 and 2016.
“The commission (UHRC) expressed its concerns that the move was a curtailment of the freedoms of expressions and right to access information, especially because it did not follow the due process and the shutdown of mobile money services directly affected people’s livelihood and interrupted people’s lives. The instances of 2016 during the elections to shut-down social media appear to be arbitrary as they occurred without prior notice to the users,” he adds.
A panel discussion on the shutting down internet services by government, concurred that African states need to refrain from placing undue restrictions on freedom of expression online. They argued that governments were shutting down internet services to curtail mobilization of citizens opposed to their regime activities. More recent examples cited were in Gabon, Egypt, DR Congo and Ethiopia.
Panel discussions at this year’s Forum are exploring the growing trend of internet shutdowns, the increasing presence of violence against women online, the intersection of open data and human rights, African frameworks that protect online rights and their conflicts with outdated laws, amongst others.
“Recent events across various African countries make the Forum as indispensable as it ever has been in discussing challenges to online rights and the opportunities for collaborative efforts by state and non-state actors to meaningfully protect and advance internet freedom on the continent,” says The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) Executive Director Dr. Wairagala Wakabi.
