Uganda’s communications regulator has reportedly ordered internet service providers to shut down social media and messaging services ahead of the country’s presidential election.
The move comes two days before the country’s presidential election, which will see one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, Yoweri Museveni, go head-to-head against opposition frontrunner and popular singer, Bobi Wine.
According to reports, a letter seen by news agencies in the country on Tuesday, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Executive Director, Irene Sewankambo, ordered telecommunications companies to “immediately suspend any access and use” of social media and online messaging platforms.
An industry insider who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the order was first communicated in “nasty and aggressive” phone calls to the telecommunications companies on Tuesday morning.
The order was retaliation for Facebook deleting pro-government accounts for seeking to manipulate public debate before Thursday’s key polls, the insider said
The list of banned social media sites includes Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Signal, and Viber.
Some of these were already offline on Tuesday, the source added.
On Monday, a list of over 100 virtual private networks was distributed to internet service providers by the UCC with orders to block them, according to the insider.
UCC spokesman, Ibrahim Bbosa, said:
“I am not aware of a directive to switch off internet or social media platforms.
“There has been slow connectivity on the platforms which can be partly due to heavy traffic as a result of the forthcoming elections.”
This comes a day after a number of Ugandan government officials and ruling party members had their Facebook accounts shut down over accusations they are seeking to manipulate public debate ahead of elections.
