Africa-Press – Uganda. Human Rights Network for Journalists has called on President Museveni to reinstate Facebook, a social media platform that has been blocked in Uganda since 2021.
Speaking on Thursday following a two-day safety and security training for journalists in Mbarara, the HRNJ-Uganda Executive Director Robert Ssempala said that banning Facebook has crippled democracy and business growth in the country.
“Someone needs to bring it to his attention that Facebook is very important and not only a social media forum for communication,” he observed.
According to Ssempala, Uganda is now losing much in the struggle of attaining good governance and business opportunities.
“I think someone needs to tell the president that it is time now to reinstate Facebook for the general good of Ugandans, governance and promoting unison of Uganda with other areas of the world,” he added.
Facebook has been blocked in Uganda since the 2021 general election and access has remained closed after Meta Technology Company and the government of Uganda failed to reach an agreement. Those who access the platform have had to install Virtual Private Network(VPN) application on their mobile phones.
HRNJ-Uganda was in Mbarara to roll out an empowerment program on safety and security of journalists, editors and media managers in Uganda to enable them make informed decisions and also know how to get out of hard situations in their line of duty.
About 20 journalists from the districts of Greater Mbarara and Greater Bushenyi participated in the event.
Ssempala warned government officials and individuals in the private sector against violating rights of journalists.
“There are many overzealous government officials. Those ones should really be reprimanded by the right-thinking members of the government such that it doesn’t come up as a collective government position to take away journalists’ rights,” he stressed.
Attendee journalists asked the government to provide an environment that makes it easier for the actors within the media to execute their mandate.
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