{"id":23723,"date":"2026-01-14T21:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/23723\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T21:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T21:45:07","slug":"uganda-blanket-internet-shutdown-violates-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/23723\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda: Blanket Internet Shutdown Violates Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Nairobi) \u2013\u00a0Ugandan<\/a> authorities should immediately restore internet access and refrain from imposing blanket shutdowns that undermine fundamental rights and threaten election integrity, Human Rights Watch said today.<\/p>\n

\u201cUganda\u2019s constitution and international human rights obligations guarantee access to information and freedom of expression, rights that are especially critical to protect during election periods,\u201d said\u00a0Tomiwa Ilori<\/a>, senior technology, rights and investigations researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cImmediate restoration of full connectivity, together with clear commitments against future shutdowns, is essential to safeguard transparency and the integrity of the vote in Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n

On January 13, 2026, Uganda\u2019s telecommunications regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission,\u00a0ordered<\/a> all mobile network operators and internet service providers to suspend public internet access nationwide starting at 6 p.m., two days before the general elections. The directive\u00a0cited concerns<\/a> about \u201conline misinformation,\u201d \u201celectoral fraud,\u201d and \u201cpreventing \u2026 incitement of violence that could affect public confidence and national security during the election period.\u201d<\/p>\n

The directive\u00a0blocked<\/a> social media platforms, web browsing, video streaming, personal email services, messaging applications, and most online services, leaving only a narrow list for critical services such as hospital systems, banking networks, tax platforms, utilities, and the electoral commission portal. It also\u00a0halted<\/a> SIM card sales and disabled outbound data roaming to One Network Area countries.<\/p>\n

Multiple network measurement sources, including\u00a0Cloudflare Radar<\/a> and\u00a0Internet Outage Detection Analysis<\/a>, have confirmed a drop in internet traffic in Uganda.<\/p>\n

The internet shutdown is part of a\u00a0broader crackdown<\/a> on rights. The government, on January 12, ordered at least 10 non-governmental organizations to immediately cease their operations indefinitely, and on December 30, 2025,\u00a0arrested<\/a> a prominent human rights activist and critic, Sarah Bireete.<\/p>\n

This move follows a troubling pattern of election-related internet shutdowns in 2016<\/a> and\u00a02021<\/a> by Ugandan authorities, blocking access to information and undermining transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.<\/p>\n

Previous shutdowns in Uganda, including\u00a0a five-day internet blackout during the 2021 elections<\/a>, led to\u00a0a ban<\/a> on Facebook, which is still in effect. Previous shutdowns\u00a0are estimated to have caused<\/a> billions of Ugandan shillings in economic losses that harm livelihoods, particularly\u00a0small businesses and informal traders<\/a> who rely on the internet for survival.<\/p>\n

Ugandan authorities have disregarded repeated calls from\u00a0international<\/a> and\u00a0regional bodies<\/a> to end this practice.<\/p>\n

Blanket internet shutdowns during elections\u00a0severely restrict communication and access to information<\/a> at a critical moment for democracy, obstruct election monitoring, and silence the electorates\u2019 voices. They\u00a0fail<\/a> the tests of legality, necessity, and proportionality and \u201ccan never be justified,\u201d according to international human rights law.<\/p>\n

These shutdowns also violate the provisions of article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights. The\u00a0Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa<\/a> also provides that states shall not interfere with an individual\u2019s right to internet access.<\/p>\n

Ugandan authorities should restore internet access immediately and commit to refraining from future disruptions in line with Uganda\u2019s Constitution and international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should ensure transparency and accountability during the electoral process, including protection for journalists, election observers, and human rights defenders.<\/p>\n

Telecommunications companies should respect human rights and align their practices with the\u00a0United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights<\/a>. They should do everything within their power to\u00a0push back<\/a> against unjustified internet shutdowns, including demanding a legal basis for any shutdown order and interpreting requests to cause the least intrusive restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cUgandan authorities\u2019 repeated internet shutdowns during elections blatantly violate human rights,\u201d Ilori said. \u201cUganda\u2019s international partners, including the African Union and East African Community, should urge compliance with human rights standards and support independent monitoring during and after the election period.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Nairobi) \u2013\u00a0Ugandan authorities should immediately restore internet access and refrain from imposing blanket shutdowns that undermine fundamental rights…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[153],"class_list":{"0":"post-23723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-uganda"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}