Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Uganda's parliament has passed a new social media tax, which will charge a daily fee of 200 Ugandan shillings (about US$0.50, £0.40, AU$0.70) to anyone using social apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. That's a hefty sum for a country with a GDP per capita of about 2,511,500 shillings.

The country's president, Yoweri Museveni, pushed for the tax on the grounds that social media encourages "gossip". However, it's not clear how social media use will be monitored and how the money will be collected.

Access to social media in Uganda was shut down completely during elections in 2016, in what Museveni called "a security measure to avert lies".

Taxes and bans

The news comes shortly after Papua New Guinea's government announced an experiment to block Facebook for a month to identify fake users and gauge how the social network affects the country's citizens. 

"The time will allow information to be collected to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, users that post false and misleading information," communications minister Sam Basil told the country's most popular newspaper, the Post-Courier.

Basil has also suggested that Papua New Guinea could set up its own alternative social network.

Via Engadget

YGbXpPtVhxo

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.