Editing Communications in Uganda (section)

===Internet censorship and surveillance===
In September 2009 the [[OpenNet Initiative]] found little or no evidence of Internet filtering in all four areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) for which it tests.<ref name="11R">{{cite web| access-date=29 June 2018 | date=30 September 2009 |author=OpenNet Initiative | url=https://opennet.net/research/profiles/uganda |
publisher=[[OpenNet Initiative|Opennet.net]] |title=No Evidence of Government Internet Filtering in All Four Areas of Testing in Uganda}}</ref>

Though Uganda has made great technological strides in recent years, the country still faces a number of challenges in obtaining affordable, reliable Internet bandwidth. This, rather than a formal government-sponsored filtering regime, is the major obstacle to Internet access. Just prior to the presidential elections in February 2006, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) blocked the anti-government Web site RadioKatwe in the only internationally reported case of Internet filtering in Uganda to that date.<ref name="11R"/>

During the [[Parliament of Uganda|2016 parliamentary elections]], the government ordered the blocking of social media for 72 hours (18–21 February).<ref name="12R">{{cite web |url=https://internethealthreport.org/v01/de/stories/inside-an-internet-shutdown/ |title=Inside An Internet Shutdown (Interview) |format=Translated from the Original German | publisher=Statusbericht zur Internetgesundheit |author=Von Kevin Zawacki |date=January 2017 |access-date=29 June 2018}}</ref>

In July 2018 Uganda instituted a tax on "over the top" messaging and voice services, which includes social networks. Users must may a fee of [[Ugandan shilling|USh&nbsp;]]{{shilingi|200}} (approx [[United States dollar|US$]]0.06) daily to use these services. The stated purpose of the law is to provide additional government revenue, and to control "gossip" being spread over these platforms. [[Virtual private network|VPN service]]s have also been blocked, after they were used by citizens to [[Tax evasion|circumvent the tax]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://dispatch.ug/2018/07/01/telecom-companies-will-block-vpns-says-mutabazi/|title=Telecom companies will block VPNs, says Mutabazi|work=Dispatch.ug|date=1 July 2018|access-date=2018-07-04|language=en-US|archive-date=2019-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008223251/https://dispatch.ug/2018/07/01/telecom-companies-will-block-vpns-says-mutabazi/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] condemned the tax as being "a clear attempt to undermine the right to freedom of expression".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44682345|title=Anger at Uganda's tax on social media|date=2 July 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-07-03|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://time.com/5328463/uganda-social-media-tax/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703211609/http://time.com/5328463/uganda-social-media-tax/|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2018|title=Uganda Just Rolled Out a 5-Cent Daily Tax to Access Social Media|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2018-07-04}}</ref> Internet usage fell significantly after the tax was introduced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/africa/1553468/uganda-social-media-tax-decrease-internet-users-revenues/|title=Uganda's social media tax has led to a drop in internet and mobile money users|last=Dahir|first=Abdi Latif|website=Quartz Africa|date=19 February 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-02-26}}</ref>

In January 2021 the government ordered a complete [[Internet outage|Internet shutdown]] during the presidential election, that lasted 4 days.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.accessnow.org/the-world-is-watching-uganda-elections/|title="No matter what they do, the world is watching": Some Ugandans are back online after internet shutdown during presidential election|website=Access Now|date=20 January 2021 |language=en|access-date=2024-09-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ooni.org/post/2021-uganda-general-election-blocks-and-outage/|title=Uganda: Data on internet blocks and nationwide internet outage amid 2021 general election|website=OONI|date=22 January 2021 |language=en|access-date=2024-09-23}}</ref>