Uganda: New law imposes restrictions on the use of the internet

Uganda has implemented a new law criminalizing internet activities, potentially resulting in 10-year jail terms. Critics fear stifling freedom of expression, pointing out that the legislation restricts online information sharing and privacy rights.

The computer misuse (Amendment)Bill 2022, passed by the Legislature in September has been signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. The legislation criminalizes some internet activity and proposes jail terms of up to 10 years in some cases; including offenses related to the transmission of information about a person without their consent as well as the sharing or intercepting of information without authorization. However, opponents of the law say it will stifle freedom of expression in a country where many opponents of the current government have been unable to stage street protests and have resulted often raised their concerns on Twitter and Social media sites. 

 The lawmaker who introduced the Bill to the House argued that ‘it was necessary to punish those who hide behind computers to hurt others. the enjoyment of the right to privacy is being affected by the abuse of online and social media platforms through the sharing of unsolicited, false, malicious, hateful and unwarranted information’.