Getty Images
Ugandans who tweet, post on Facebook, swipe left on Tinder, or send a WhatsApp message now have to pay for it.A social media tax was imposed Sunday by the government in Kampala — part of a plan to wrest back control over online public discourse by implementing restrictions on how people access social media platforms.Angry citizens have taken to using virtual private networks to circumvent the tax and access social media, but the Ugandan government is working to close those avenues.The tax has drawn a strong backlash from Ugandans, as well as human rights organizations, who have labeled the government’s decision as “another clumsy attempt to stamp on free speech.”President Yoweri Museveni initially called for the ban as a way of stopping what he called “rumor mongering” online, including “opinions, prejudices, insults [and] friendly chats.”The government said it hopes the tax will boost revenues by as much as $400 million annually, which could then be poured back into broadband infrastructure for the country.But critics say the tax is not about generating money but stifling free speech.“This tax is meant to clamp down on free expression. It is meant to inhibit political organization online. And it is going to stifle business startups who are using the social media. Of course, we are we are seeking for a nullification of the law which we think is both unreasonable, unnecessary and illegal,” Kiiza Eron, one of the lawyers leading a legal challenge against the tax, said Monday.Several protestors who marched on the parliament in Kampala Monday to protest were reportedly detained.Since Sunday, anyone trying to log onto to Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, Tinder, WhatsApp or dozens of other networks, would have been prompted to pay a daily fee of 200 shillings ($0.05).While this may not sound like much, almost one-third of Ugandans survive on just $1.25 per day.Once the tax came into force, Ugandans quickly sought out ways of circumventing the levy. An analysis of Google Trends in the country shows a huge spike in searches for virtual private networks.
Cover image: The messenger apps WhatsApp and Twitter can be seen on the screen of an iPhone. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Advertisement
Advertisement
VPN apps on smartphones allow users to mask their location in order to avoid paying the tax. However, the government announced Monday it had informed carriers and ISPs to block access to VPNs.It also pointed out that the amount of data consumed when using a VPN made it a more expensive option than paying the social media tax.However, blocking VPNs is not as easy as flicking a switch as many use custom protocols to protect user traffic. The Chinese government has been trying to block VPN access for almost a decade and still struggles to stop them all.Human Rights Watch has hit out at the government’s decision, describing it as little more than censorship.READ: Facebook is launching a fact-checking team in Canada to fight fake news“Taxing anyone to use social media is an affront to their basic human rights,” Oryem Nyeko, an African-based researcher with the charity said. “Uganda can try to dress up this draconian new tax as a benefit, but in reality, it is just another clumsy attempt to stamp on free speech.”Uganda is just the latest country to try and stifle people’s ability to express their opinion online.In Tanzania last month the government introduced new regulation requiring all those posting content online to pay for a license, register as a company and obtain tax clearance certificates. Given most Tanzanian bloggers are individuals, the majority have stopped posting because they can’t meet the requirements.In Venezuela last week President Nicolas Maduro took another step towards controlling all access to the internet, by shutting down access to the Tor network. Typically used by journalists and activists to send and receive sensitive content, it was increasingly used in the South American country by citizens seeking information censored on the regular internet.