NAIROBI, Kenya – Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has blocked Facebook’s operations in his country, days after the social media company removed fake accounts linked to his government ahead of a much – contested general election on Thursday. takes place.
In a television speech late Tuesday night, Mr. Museveni Facebook of ‘arrogance’ and says he instructed his government to close the platform along with other social media, although Facebook is the only one he mentioned.
“The social channel you are talking about, if it is to function in Uganda, it must be used fairly by everyone who has to use it,” he said. Museveni said. “We can not tolerate this arrogance that someone has to decide for us who is good and who is bad,” he added.
The ban on Facebook comes at the end of an election period plagued by a crackdown on political opposition, harassment of journalists and nationwide protests that, according to officials, have led to at least 54 deaths and hundreds of arrests.
Mr. Museveni, 76, who is running for a sixth term, faces ten opponents, including rapper legislator Bobi Wine (38). Mr Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was beaten, sprayed with tear gas and charged in court with alleged wrongdoing for the coronavirus while on the campaign.
Last week, Mr. Wine filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in which he accused Museveni and other top current and former security officials of punishing a wave of violence and human rights violations against civilians, political figures and human rights lawyers.
Facebook announced this week that it was pulling out a network of accounts and pages in the East African country that was engaged in so-called “coordinated improper conduct” aimed at manipulating public debate around the election. According to the company, the network is linked to the Government Citizens Interaction Center, an initiative that is part of Uganda’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the national leadership.
In a statement, a Facebook representative said the network used ‘fake and duplicate accounts to manage pages, comment on other people’s content, personalize users, re-share posts in groups to make them more popular make them look like they were. ‘
Facebook’s investigation into the network began after research from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab unveiled a network of social media accounts that launched a campaign to criticize the opposition, and Mr. Museveni and the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement. After the research was published, Twitter also said it had closed accounts linked to the election.
Hours before the speech of mr. Museveni has confirmed social media users in Uganda restricting their online communication, with digital rights group NetBlocks reporting that platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter have been affected.
MTN Uganda, the country’s largest telecommunications company, confirmed on Wednesday that it had received an order from the Uganda Communications Commission to suspend “access to and use, directly or otherwise, of all social media platforms and online messaging programs until further notice.”
Felicia Anthonio, a campaigner with the non-profit Access Digital rights, said authorities have blocked more than 100 virtual private networks, or VPNs, that could help users bypass censorship and browse the Internet safely .
Uganda blocked the internet during the 2016 election, and in 2018 it introduced a tax on social media aimed at increasing revenue and what the government calls online ‘gossip’. The move, which has been criticized as a threat to freedom of expression, has negatively impacted internet use in general, and millions of Ugandans have completely given up on internet services.
In anticipation of another strike this week, a group of organizations campaigning for an end to internet disruptions worldwide has sent a letter to Mr. Museveni and the leaders of telecommunications companies in Uganda sent and requested them to keep the internet and social media platforms accessible during the election.
Mr. Museveni did not heed their call. On Tuesday night, he said the decision to block Facebook was ‘unfortunate’ but ‘inevitable’.
“I am very sorry for the inconvenience,” he said, adding that he himself used the platform to communicate with young voters. He has nearly a million followers on Facebook and two million on Twitter.
Mr. Museveni, who hit a challenging note, said that if Facebook did not want to ‘take sides’, it would not be allowed to work in the country.
“Uganda is ours,” he said.