- Uganda has passed a law imposing a tax on people using social media platforms
- Uganda’s finance minister said the tax increases were needed to help the country pay off its growing national debt
- Meanwhile, Uganda’s President Museveni said the law will help "stop spreading lies"
Uganda's parliament, in an apparent controversial move, has passed a law to impose a tax on people using social media platforms in the country.
According to BBC, the parliament imposes a 200 shilling [$0.05, £0.04] daily levy on people using internet messaging platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber and Twitter.
NAIJ.com gathered that President Yoweri Museveni had pushed for the changes, arguing that social media encouraged gossip.
The new Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill will also impose various other taxes, including a 1% levy on the total value of mobile money transactions, a move civil society groups reportedly complain will affect poorer Ugandans who rarely use banking services.
The minister for finance, David Bahati, told parliament that the tax increases were needed to help Uganda pay off its growing national debt.
The law is reportedly expected to come into effect on 1 July but there remain doubts about how it will be implemented.
Experts and at least one major internet service provider have raised doubts about how a daily tax on social media will be implemented.
Museveni pushed for the social media law back in March. He wrote a letter to finance minister, Matia Kasaija, insisting that the revenue collected by the social media tax would help the country "cope with consequences of olugambo [gossiping]".
He, however, argued there should be no tax on internet data as it was useful for "educational, research or reference purposes".
Reacting to the new development, critics said the law would curtail freedom of expression.
But Kasaija dismissed concerns that the new law could limit people's use of the internet.
"We're looking for money to maintain the security of the country and extend electricity so that you people can enjoy more social media, more often, more frequently," he reportedly said.
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
Recall that access to social media platforms was shut during presidential elections in 2016. President Museveni allegedly insisted at the time that it was done to "stop spreading lies".
NAIJ.com previously reported that a bill prescribing death by hanging for any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in the death of another person received the first reading at the Senate.
The bill, sponsored by the Senate spokesperson, Sabi Abdullahi, seeks the establishment of an independent national commission for hate speeches.
The proposed commission would enforce hate speech laws across the country, and ensure the “elimination” of hate speech, the bill says.
For offences such as harassment on grounds of ethnicity or race, the offender shall be sentenced to “not less than a five-year jail term or a fine of not less than N10 million or both.”
How Trump's strange covfefe tweet, Biafra @50 celebrations lit up the social media - On NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng