Uganda imposes tax on WhatsApp, Facebook users
Uganda has imposed a controversial tax on people using social
media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber and Twitter in a move to curb "gossip" and raise revenue,
the media reported.
It
imposes a 200 shilling [$0.05, £0.04] daily levy on people using internet
messaging platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber and Twitter.
President
Yoweri Museveni had pushed for the changes, arguing that social media
encouraged gossip.
The law
should come into effect on 1 July but there remain doubts about how it will be
implemented.
The tax was passed on Wednesday as part of an overhaul of an
excise duty law due to take effect next financial year which starts in July,
parliament spokesman Chris Obore told Reuters.
A junior finance minister previously told journalists the tax
would be levied daily by mobile phone operators on each SIM card used to access
any of the targeted social media platforms.
There was no immediate comment from cell phone operators or
social media companies, but rights advocates denounced the move.
"It (tax) is a new tool of stifling free expression and
citizen organizing that has been beyond the control of the state," said
Nicholas Opiyo, a Kampala-based lawyer who also heads a local rights
organisation.
"It's intended to curtail the ever increasing central role
of social media in political organizing," Report Said .
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