On 12 May 2016 Uganda suffered another social media blockade. That day was also the presidential swearing-in ceremony. Of course it’s no coincidence that these events have collided on the same day. The ban was effected on the evening of Wednesday, the eve of the ceremony. Telecom companies and other ISPs broadcast on their social media sites informing their customers that the Uganda Communications Commission had issued a directive that social media should be shut down for the slated period due to security concerns. Security has of course become the political high ticket when it comes to any high-handed measures. Why? Because security mandates measures that would otherwise be unconstitutional as constituting infringement on guaranteed human rights.
This year marks the first time the government has shut down social media in Uganda. This being the second episode only points to what could easily become routine. What is at play can be best described as politics threatening the socioeconomic growth curve. Uganda’s Constitution in Articles 29 and 41 provides for the right to access to information and freedom of speech. One should like to believe that the internet is a very powerful tool through which these rights can be exercised. Not only does the internet provide a medium of access and expression, it is also a tool for socioeconomic development. This brings to light the issue of women’s involvement in ICTs and internet policy.
Internet penetration in Uganda as of 2015 is estimated at 11% by the Uganda Computer Emergency Response Team. This puts Uganda below the International Telecommunication Union’s threshold of 15% for least developed countries. Uganda’s population is estimated at about 37 million. The percentage of women who have access to the internet is even lower or largely unrecorded. Intel Corporation estimates that 45% fewer women have access to the internet than men in sub-Saharan Africa. It estimates that only 21% of women in Uganda have access to the internet. Hence I shudder to think that while we fight for internet democracy, net neutrality and access, the barriers to the realisation of these ideals meets with unprecedented political interests that cannot be democratically justified.
Such measures promote self-censorship which hinders the very core of the internet as an open and inclusive platform. Consider the first social media blackout earlier this year in February: it saw over 1.5 million VPN downloads to bypass the blockade. Social media presence was very visible throughout the four-day ban. However, the content published was far from violent or inciteful. I like to think that itself is a sign that perhaps the populace is not as provocative as anticipated.
There is a threat that when these new problems emerge, the issues of women’s involvement may be easily swept under the rug. What remains is that an open and free internet is core to the development of a politically fragile nation like Uganda, more for its benefits and promise than for the political fears and strategies. Action must be taken to protect the openness of the internet. There are several barriers to internet access in Uganda and this could quickly become one that is accepted as the norm. It shouldn’t.