The Ugandan government banned Facebook in 2021 following the deletion of several NRM accounts that were deemed to be fake by the social media platform. The blocking of the platform was counter-productive as users found ways around the ban by using virtual private networks (VPN).
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The use of VPNs has caused a lot of frustration on all sides both for the government that banned the platform and also for Facebook users, especially advertisers. What is funny is that several government agencies keep using the banned platform.
The government under the handle Government of the Republic of Uganda”, a verified account, also continues to frequently use Meta’s Facebook to communicate with the public.
In a tweet last week, the leader of the Opposition in Parliament Mr. Mathias Mpuuga, said: “Mr. M7 has surely lost touch with reality! The other day he said in a self-mocking speech that ‘I hope now Facebook knows who is in charge of Uganda. If they stop playing games we shall open up his handlers were meanwhile celebrating more followers on Facebook.” This a comment he made after the Government of the Republic of Uganda’s Facebook page was showing a lot of activity. Why are government agencies still using Meta’s banned platform? Below is the list of these agencies.
- The government of the Republic of Uganda
- Uganda Revenue Authority
- Uganda Police Force
- Uganda National Roads Authority
- Ministry of Education and Sports
- Ministry of Works and Transport
- Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development
The big question now is who loses the most when Facebook is banned, the people or the economy? Facebook used to be the second highest used social media platform with more than 2.5 million active users in Uganda, the number has dropped from over three million users before the platform was banned by the government as people find using VNPs a pain among other issues.
Unblocking Facebook may also fail to increase the number of users as most gen-Z and millennials have already to other platforms such as Tiktok.
