Who Controls the Message?
Key Headlines:
Reporters Without Borders
-
"After Uganda, Benin and Zambia impose 'worrying' tax on social networks" (
m1
)
- September 21, 2018
-
"Several Ugandan journalists arrested while investigating corruption" (
m15
)
- February 9, 2019
Freedom House:
- World Press Freedom Index: 117th out of 180 countries
- Numerous government freedom of expression violations (g19)
In short, the government controls the media, at least, it appears to be holding a great deal of sway. The purpose of the tax, according to the BBC, was to boost government revenue, as well as to end "gossip" on social media platforms. This "gossip" is a nod towards negative reflections of the country with President Museveni saying that the media is falsely informing the people. Uganda's own version of "fake news" with critics accusing the president of "trying to stifle dissenting voices" (m13).
The tax works by asking users to pay an electronic fee prior to accessing social media sites, although some have been using Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to get around the fee.
The arrest of the journalists and the tax seems to be an obvious violation of the Ugandan constitution, which holds several conditions for freedom of expression and speech. Vague laws and acts have minimized these basic human rights though, allowing for the government to control the message being distributed by its citizens a little more closely (m13).
Additionally, while the Uganda Communications Commission is "independent" on paper, its board members are appointed by the ICT minister and approved by the government. Even the organization designated to communications is under the thumb of the government. Freedom is becoming paper thin (m11).
Primary News Sources
A state-owned paper with a readership of more than 25,000 Ugandans. The paper covers subjects regarding business, sports, life and style, NV TV, Pearl of Africa, opportunities, and Ugandan history. It offers a diverse selection of information with a highly visual site.
With a readership of just over 17,000, the Daily Monitor hits a slightly smaller range of Ugandans, but it is a privately-owned daily newspaper. It covers similar topics as New Vision with a high level of visual diversity on their site as well. At initial glance, however, it has a much less political feel to it though, which balances out the state-owned paper.
Despite the BBC promoting Uganda with a tag line of it being "a pioneer in the liberalization of media in Africa," Uganda's media, and primary sources of information, has a heavy influence from the government (g51). While news balances a bit with the two papers, one being state-owned and the other being privately-owned, the limitations put on social media, as well as the arrests of journalists do not bode well for the country. Furthermore, the fear of being temporarily shutdown by the government for speaking out against it, hinders the ability of the press and broadcasters to inform and influence their audience. For these reasons, the primary knowledge monopoly within Uganda is the government itself. In the end, whether through influence or direct action, the government controls the media.