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posted by mrpg on Sunday June 03 2018, @10:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the let's-gossip dept.

Ugandu has reached rock bottom and yet has started to dig even deeper with the recent announcement that a daily fee of 200 shillings will be levied to use social media. This is not the first time a country has attempted to have ISPs charge a separate fee for social network access.

Today, Uganda's parliament passed a controversial "social media tax." It will consist of a daily fee of about 200 shillings (5 US cents) levied on anyone who uses social networking and messaging apps and platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter. According to Trading Economics, in 2016, Uganda had a per-capita income of $666.10, so this isn't an insubstantial tax.

President Yoweri Museveni was a vocal supporter of and advocate the bill. He believes that social media encourages "gossip," according to BBC News. The law will go into effect as of July 1st, but it's not clear how the government will monitor its citizens or collect the tax.

Also at the BBC


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  • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:06AM (5 children)

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 03 2018, @11:06AM (#687974) Journal

    Uganda had a per-capita income of $666.10

    a daily fee of about 200 shillings (5 US cents)

    I would imagine that, with an income as low as that, very few people can afford to buy a mobile (cell) phone. For those that can, the cost of an additional 5 US cents per day - presumably on top of their existing data plans and connection charges - will probably not cause much of problem

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Myfyr on Sunday June 03 2018, @03:59PM (2 children)

    by Myfyr (3654) on Sunday June 03 2018, @03:59PM (#688045)

    I would imagine that, with an income as low as that, very few people can afford to buy a mobile (cell) phone.

    You would imagine very wrongly. In much of Africa mobile phones are basically critical infrastructure, and it makes sense to spend big to have one. As a result, 70% of Ugandans own a mobile phone. [monitor.co.ug] I saw a BBC article a couple of years ago that suggested that Uganda may have more mobile phones than light bulbs. So no, being able to "afford" a mobile phone does not necessarily mean that 5 cents per day is irrelevant.

    OTOH, only 15% own a smart phone (and only 12% had used the internet in the last 12 months), which may be more relevant. Of course, that goes to 28% smart phone usage for young people, who are probably the "gossiping" trouble makers this is aimed at.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday June 03 2018, @05:33PM (1 child)

      by frojack (1554) on Sunday June 03 2018, @05:33PM (#688064) Journal

      So the GP was correct after all.

      Those platforms that you can actually use social media on (something more that a dumb cell phone) are very rare. Just 15.8 per cent of the population own smart phones, according to your own link.

      You can't do much social media on a dumb phone. About all you can do is gossip via actual phone calls. (Horrors!)

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      • (Score: 3, Informative) by cubancigar11 on Monday June 04 2018, @03:35AM

        by cubancigar11 (330) on Monday June 04 2018, @03:35AM (#688207) Homepage Journal

        You can do WhatsApp (which is one of the main reasons why it was such a success). That's all you need.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday June 03 2018, @08:40PM

    He's a friend who lives in Sierra Leone, in West Africa.

    My understanding is that he and his countrymen are even poorer than Ugandans.

    Despite that, most have mobile phones. They're not iPhones, I expect they're very basic phones that are only sold in the developing world.

    Consider that widespread mobile phone adoption is dramatically cheaper than running local loops to every residence and business.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 04 2018, @03:36AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 04 2018, @03:36AM (#688208)

    $18 may not seem much to you and me but it is to someone living below the poverty line