Kurzweil
JF-Expert Member
- May 25, 2011
- 6,621
- 8,411
Social media tax imposed on July 01 in Uganda has already taken down many small businesses run by young Ugandans.
It is said Facebook/WhatsApp use went down by 75 percent. These are consequences of legislating in total disregard of citizen's rights
Digital activism in Uganda has grown against the backdrop of pains of a not so free media. Still for 77 percent of Ugandans, internet remains far away from their reach.
Taxing the few that are online is increasing that figure of unconnected Ugandans
In 2017 Statistics in Uganda figures showed number of poor people increased from 6.6 M in 2012/13 to 10 million in 2016/17.
You cannot uplift people, esp the young who are majority of the country, from poverty by cutting off the very links that offer opportunities
This social media tax- double taxation threatens social and economic rights of Ugandans, women and poor getting hit the most!
Right to employment and security in case of unemployment already doesnt exist here, when you tax those on the margins we will no doubt see more Ugandans slipping into poverty. The tax also threatens right to education.
President Museveni targeted OTT services because they are non-educational but data gathered since the tax was imposed shows traffic to google and other search engines has gone down. No doubt he doesn't grasp the interdependence on the internet.
The 21st Century education comes in various forms so President Musveni narrowly defining educational services doesn't help in a country where access to formal education is still a challenge esp for women and girls
This tax comes at time when there increasing intolerance for critical online content/voices in Uganda.
Taxing social media is a message that the government is willing to limit access for those who are already online. Then think abt those we are yet to connect!