Government confirms plans to shut down internet ahead of January elections

The Ugandan government is planning to impose restrictions on internet access, including the outright banning of major social media platforms, should the rapid spread of election misinformation persist. 

The Electoral Commission’s Acting Secretary–Commissioner, Ronald Kamugisha, confirmed the prospective measures yesterday while addressing the press in Kampala.

Mr Kamugisha stated that popular platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram are all under review ahead of the general elections set for mid January 2026.

This warning comes in a climate of already heightened tension, recalling the nationwide shutdown of social media networks just days before the 2021 elections—a restriction from which Facebook has yet to be fully restored.

The Commissioner said the decision stems from a recent engagement between Africa Electoral Commissions with representatives of major social media platforms in Benin. 

He reported that African electoral bodies challenged the companies on their failure to curb harmful content, warning them that governments were being forced to take drastic action. 

“We pointed out to them that our governments have been left with no choice when some of these things happen, other than shutting down the internet altogether,” Mr Kamugisha explained. 

He accused the companies of having "created a monster that they could not regulate properly" and failing to offer assistance when content issues escalate, leaving the government to "switch off the internet."

The threat of a blanket internet shutdown holds severe implications, particularly given recent regional history. 

During the October elections in neighbouring Tanzania, the internet was switched off, a move tragically linked to widespread violence. 

Disturbing reports later emerged that security forces allegedly used immediate and lethal force against youth-led protests following the restoration of the internet.

Experts estimated that at least 700 individuals were extrajudicially killed in the aftermath, with chilling accounts of victims' bodies disappearing from morgues and allegations of human remains being incinerated or buried in mass graves.