- After five days of blackout ordered by the government, the internet in Uganda has been restored.
- The service providers were asked to switch off the connections during Jan 14’s general election evoking widespread protests and criticism.
After five days of blackout ordered by the government, the internet in Uganda has been restored. The service providers were asked to switch off the connections during Jan 14’s general election evoking widespread protests and criticism. The country’s Communications Commission ordered a service blackout until further notice without indicting any reasons for its decision.
Only partial restoration was reported from Jan 18. Social media access, however, is reportedly still blocked though some users have managed to bypass the block to access sites such as Facebook and Twitter via VPN (virtual private network).
President Yoweri Museveni said restrictions on social media sites were enforced after Facebook blocked the account of a number of supporters of the National Resistance Movement, the country’s ruling party. He further alleged that the Facebook refused to heed appeals by the government to unblock their accounts. Facebook on its part clarified in a statement that it was forced to shut a number of accounts belonging to Ugandan State officials for allegedly seeking to manipulate public debate ahead of the elections.
