The government through the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has reportedly requested all major telecom companies to block access to the iOS AppStore, Google PlayStore, and YouTube. This comes at a time when the country prepares to go into elections on the 14th of January next week.
On 18th February 2016, Ugandans woke up to the harsh reality that they had been cut off from utilizing all social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp– it was just a matter of time for the same for something similar to happen again and looks like it is just the first phase of apps that will be blocked.
The Minister of Defense, Adolf Mwesigye, and his Internal Affairs Counterpart General Abubakar Jeje Odongo told the press in Kampala yesterday that they are working to see how best they can manage social media. “We are now having a challenge of citizen journalism. Social media propaganda is certainly not in the best interest of this country’s security. We are looking for a way of dealing with it.” he said.
Last last year, UCC wrote to Google requesting them to block certain YouTube channels that were reportedly a threat to national security. In the letter to Google, the govt claimed that these channels contain extremist or anarchic messages including messages likely to incite violence against sections of the public on account of their tribe and political opinions. Since the response from Google to UCC never yielded the response that the govt was expecting, they have now resorted to blocking the entire platform from being access by Ugandans as the election date draws near.
The ban seems to only affect users of the two biggest mobile networks (Airtel and MTN). Apps store users are unable to install or update apps and this comes after the National Unity Platform (NUP) recently launched a new election monitoring app called UVote app. While iOS users seem stuck due to the tight eco-system Apple runs, Android users have resorted to sideloading APKs of the latest versions of the apps they need. The solution to this mess is the use of the same old VPN technology.
ALSO READ: Why any war on VPNs is one the Ugandan government can’t win
Here is the thing about VPNs– Internet Service Providers (ISPs) cannot “see” the connection to the sites you’re visiting. The ability of the government or attacker to spy, intercept, attack, or steal information stops at the VPN. It seems the cat and mouse games between the government and its citizens has just begun.
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