Facebook’s growing regulation of government accounts spreading misinformation has met with an unexpected setback: Uganda has ordered internet service providers to ban all social media platforms in the country.
On Monday, Facebook had shut down several accounts linked to the country’s Ministry of Information, which it says was orchestrating numerous fake and duplicate accounts to promote the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and the President Yoweri Museveni, a week before Uganda goes to the polls. According to Voice of America, the Facebook accounts shut down were allegedly linked to the “Citizens Interaction Center” at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
In an apparent retaliation against the same, as reported by Reuters citing a government source, Uganda has completely banned social media networks. “Uganda Communications Commission hereby directs you to immediately suspend any access and use, direct or otherwise, of all social media platforms and online messaging applications over your network until further notice,” said the letter from the commission’s executive director to internet providers.
Museweni has been in power since 1986.
On Tuesday, opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine abruptly ended an interview after soldiers raided his home and arrested his security guards. "The army has this morning raided my home, arrested all my security guards and anyone they could see around my premises," Wine tweeted. "No reason for the arrest was given.”
Wine is considered the frontrunner among 10 candidates challenging Museveni.
Facebook’s crackdown on pro-Museweni accounts is the latest move by the social media giant in attempting to level the information playing field in the run-up to an election. While prior to the 2020 US election, Facebook took a more hands-off approach than rival Twitter, it has since become more active after President Donald Trump persistently challenged the results—culminating in the storming of the Capitol on January 6. Facebook went on to make the unprecedented move of banning Trump from its platform, a move followed by Twitter, and then a host of other social media platforms and internet services.
Concerns have been raised over the growing power of social media platforms to regulate political speech. However, at the same time, these platforms prove instrumental in serving as a medium for democratic expression against authoritarian regimes. Uganda, a hybrid democracy as per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Democracy Index, has grappled with authoritarianism under Museveni's rule for decades, even as its Constitution guarantees citizens fundamental liberties including freedom of speech.
The crackdown is the latest in a tug-of-war between the Government and Facebook: In 2019, the government jailed activist Stella Nyanzi for a Facebook post she made against Museveni. In 2018, Uganda introduced a digital user tax on Facebook, a move that nonetheless failed to deter the platform from seeking to expand in the country. Ugandan users pay 200 shillings per day ($0.05) to access Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp and YouTube services—a move that dropped internet usage on paper, but that led many to turn to VPNs to dodge the tax and communicate freely.