Recently Uganda’s parliament passed a law to put in place a “social media tax” supposedly in effort to reduce the “spreading of lies” and gossip that Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, apparently hates. Specifically, this law will start charging people, after the 1st of July, $0.05 for a day of social media use. This may not sound like a lot but the average daily salary of a Ugandan citizen is just $1.73, making the $0.05 tax a considerable amount.
As for whether this is a good thing, many may see it as one, however you have to question Museveni’s motivations as the leader has been accused multiple times of corruption, such as using the country’s money for personal use, rigging elections, and even just refusing to give up power once beaten democratically by opponents such as Dr. Kizza Besigye. This could suggest that the president is simply doing it to contain news regarding himself and his reign.
Nonetheless, it may not even matter as it’s still unknown how authorities are planning to identify those individuals using social media platforms, with various internet service providers doubting whether the daily tax on social media is doable at this current time in the country.
