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A Ugandan activist has been charged with computer-related crimes for criticizing the government on Facebook:
Stella Nyanzi, one of Uganda's most controversial academics and activists, appeared in court Monday, after being arrested and charged Friday with cyber harassment and the misuse of a computer, for "shaming" the government.
Nyanzi's latest run-in with the 31-year-old regime of President Yoweri Museveni began with a fight for free sanitary pads for school-age girls. "She's the one person who has dared to come out strongly in the country and say what many have feared to say many, many times," said Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, an LGBT rights activist, shortly after leaving the court house.
During the 2016 elections, Museveni and wife, Janet, promised to provide free pads to poor young girls across the country. [...] The elections passed; Museveni won. Earlier this year, Janet Museveni told the country's parliament the promise of free sanitary pads wasn't going to happen because the country was facing a tough economic climate. Nyanzi was furious. She decided if the government wasn't going to do it, she would give poor girls sanitary pads. So she started a crowdfunding campaign and she also unleashed a torrent of criticism toward Museveni, his wife and his supporters. Her criticisms flowed into her Facebook timeline. They were always pointed and sometimes profane. In one of them, she writes that she refuses to call the president's wife "Mama Janet," as most Ugandas do[.]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 13 2017, @03:03PM (11 children)
Politicians should have thick skin. Citizens should be allowed to criticize. After all, the politicians are making policy that affects everyone's lives.
Further, politicians are public figures. Isn't the bar for slandering or libeling a public figure much higher?
While it is still legal to do so, I would offer this:
Q. What is the difference between Trump and an orange?
A. An orange has thick skin.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @03:37PM (3 children)
I would advise you not to make light of potentially losing core rights in the US.
Unfortunately, the slipper slope does exist, but it only travels in one direction: rapidly to authoritarianism.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 13 2017, @04:33PM
I don't take it lightly at all. But I think we're already sliding down the slippery slope. The difference is in our perspectives. You think you are still safely able to accelerate away from the black hole. I'm saying we have already crossed the event horizon and don't quite realize it just yet. It's just an opinion. But it is my opinion.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug into other computer. Right-click paste.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:21PM
Unfortunately, the slipper slope does exist, but it only travels in one direction
Interesting claim! Would that be because slippers are also called "go-aheads", because they fall off if you walk backwards? And then there is the term "flip-flops", another sign we may be on this slope! But seems to go both ways? I just heard that Drumfth has flipped to the "NATO is no longer obsolete" view. The downward trend continues when we realize that "zori" is the word for the slippers in Japan, "sandals" may also apply, the "between the toe" ones are called "thongs" as well, which brings us back to Miss Universe and Trump, and Russia, with urine. And we have not even gotten to the incline of bathroom slippers, bedroom slippers, and especially Bunny Slippers [photobucket.com]!!!
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday April 13 2017, @10:19PM
The U.S. government started to do something similar, but thought better of it.
/article.pl?sid=17/04/07/0415242 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday April 13 2017, @03:40PM (6 children)
Calling the leadership of Uganda "politicians" is a bit generous.
This is a country where presidential term limits were abolished in a parliamentary vote where each yes voter got $2000 USD cold hard cash.
And the last presidential election was widely believed to be rigged.
And everyone expects the next president to be the current president's son.
Uganda is one of those democracy-in-name-only countries.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @03:51PM (5 children)
TOTALLY not like the US. Well, at least until one of Trump's kids runs... probably his daughter so they can rub it in Hillary's face.
(Score: 3, Funny) by ikanreed on Thursday April 13 2017, @04:07PM (4 children)
By "widely believed" I mean "international third party election monitoring organizations cited widespread disenfranchisement" not "winner of the election whined about illegal votes that don't exist."
But I get your point about glass houses and casting stones.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @04:39PM (3 children)
Actually, some states are no longer classified as democracies according to Harvard professors:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article122593759.html [newsobserver.com]
You can also check figure 1 in the following (by the same group as above) to see the US is about as democratic as north korea:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2567075 [ssrn.com]
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday April 13 2017, @04:46PM (2 children)
Hey, guess what state I live in and why I may be a super-active campaigner for ending political districting in the US.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:34PM (1 child)
How's it working for you?
> super-active campaigner
Is that "super-" in hours of hard community proselytizing, or in dollars of lobbying?
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:01PM
No money, a fair amount of door-to-door.