The organisation, which claims to have over 7 million members and supporters around the world, argues that the tax "is a clear attempt to undermine the right to freedom of expression", especially after the country's president said he wanted to curb "lugambo" (gossip).

The tax seeks users to pay a daily among of UGX200 to access social media platforms.

Amnesty International's Director for East Africa the Horn and the Great Lakes said: "It is not the place of the Ugandan authorities to determine which discussions taking place on social media platforms are useful".

She added that: "By making people pay for using these platforms, this tax will render these avenues of communication inaccessible for low-income earners, robbing many people of their right to freedom of expression, with a chilling effect on other human rights. This is a clear attempt to silence dissent, in the guise of raising government revenues".

How social media tax works

Social media tax, formally known as OTT tax, targets users of social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter among others.

Also Read: Everything you need about the contentious social media & mobile money taxes in Uganda

UGX200 daily tax must be paid before one can access these social media platforms, apart from those intended for research and education -- like Google.

The tax expires at 11:59 PM -- just a calendar day and not 24 hours -- as it's with internet data packages.

Most Ugandans are using Virtual Private Network (VPN) mobile applications and software to evade the tax.