Uganda is facing social media lockdown ahead of January 14 general elections. Giant Telecom Company MTN Uganda has disclosed that the decision to shut down social media and other online messaging applications is a directive that was issued to them by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).
In a statement issued by Rhona Arinaitwe, the Senior Manager – Corporate Communications and PR at MTN Uganda, she says that they received a directive from their regulator UCC to immediately suspend access and use, direct or otherwise of all social media platforms and online messaging applications over the network until further notice.
“MTN Uganda has, in compliance with its National Telecommunications Operator License and in accordance with MTN’s group-wide Digital Human Rights due diligence framework implemented the directive,” Arinaitwe says.
She says that MTN Uganda will continue engaging with the relevant stakeholders to limit the scope and duration of the service disruption.
Interestingly, the MTN statement was released on their Facebook page a day after they switched off social media platforms. The decision to switch off social media has not affected most Ugandans as they accessing the social media sites via VPN