Ugandans to pay before using Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, Skype
These social media sites are among the many brands accessed via telecoms networks covered by the 200 shilling ($0.0517) per user per day tax to access over the top (OTT) services.
According to the Deputy government spokesman Shaban Bantariza the new levy which took effect at midnight on Saturday was an appropriate source of much needed revenue for the country.
Uganda has about 23.6 million mobile phone subscribers, 17 million of whom use the internet, the state-run Uganda Communications Commission says.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on Uganda to scap the tax, saying it robbed “many people of their right to freedom of expression, with a chilling effect on other human rights”.
This is a clear attempt to silence dissent, in the guise of raising government revenues, Amnesty said in a statement.
Telecom firms announced last week ahead of the introduction of the levy on July 1 that they would block all social media sites and only grant access upon a subscriber paying. Payment is done via telecom firms’ mobile money cash financial service.
Ugandans expressed their anger in local media, with some saying the tax curtailed their right to access information while others argued it amounted to double taxation because data used to access social media is already taxed.
Reuters
Posts
