Ugandan media groups and human rights activists on Monday filed a court challenge to a controversial new internet law they are protesting, which aims to restrict freedom of expression and stifle dissent.
A total of 13 petitioners, including an online TV channel, lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court against the law, which was signed by veteran President Yoweri Museveni last week.
The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act “threatens freedom of expression and targets individuals with dissenting views,” one of the petitioners, Norman Tumuhimbise, told AFP.
Tumuhimbise works for Digital TV, which was raided by security agents in March this year. Nine of its employees, including Tumuhimbise, were arrested and charged with computer misuse and spreading false information.
According to the petition, the government has seven days to submit a defense, but it is not known when hearings in the case would begin.
Amnesty International is calling for the “draconian” law to be scrapped, warning that it is “deliberately targeting government critics and being used to silence dissent and prevent people from speaking out”.
“This law threatens the right to freedom of expression online, including the right to obtain and impart information, under the pretense of banning unsolicited, false, malicious, hateful and unjustified information,” Amnesty’s director for the East and South said Africa. Muleya Mwananyanda.
Uganda has seen a series of crackdowns on those opposed to Museveni’s rule, particularly around the 2021 elections, with journalists attacked, lawyers jailed, election observers prosecuted and opposition leaders violently silenced.
– ‘Rise up and defend the rights’ –
Opposition leader Bobi Wine, who unsuccessfully challenged the president in 2021 and was often targeted by security forces, said the law’s passage was not surprising.
“Museveni is aware that he is unpopular and he makes laws like this to silence the population,” he told AFP.
“This time people should stand up and defend their rights, because civil space is being restricted again and again.”
Amnesty noted that the new law included some useful provisions, such as the right to privacy and responsible reporting about children, but “it introduces penalties for anyone accused of so-called hate speech”.
People convicted under the law will be barred from holding public office for 10 years, Amnesty warned, in a bid to strengthen state control over freedom of expression online, including through political opposition groups.
The perpetrators also face fines of up to 15 million Ugandan shillings (about US$3,900) and up to seven years in prison.
“Uganders must be able to exercise their right to freedom of expression without fear of being attacked by the criminal justice system,” Mwananyanda said in Amnesty’s statement released on Friday.
