Harness your knowledge and capabilities to create networks similar to Facebook- Hon .Dr .Baryomunsi to the Youth
The Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, has disclosed that the Ugandan government is engaged in discussions to reopen Facebook, three years after blocking access to the popular social media network. Speaking at a conference organised by the ICT ministry, Dr Baryomunsi reassured Ugandans that the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is in talks with Facebook to explore ways of resuming operations in the country.
“Facebook has been closed for a while, although many people can still access it through VPN, which becomes costly to the users,” he mentioned. Dr Baryomunsi encouraged the youth to harness their knowledge and capabilities by creating networks and applications similar to Facebook.
VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network, allows users to establish a protected network connection when using public networks, encrypting internet traffic and disguising online identity. By January 2022, 2.5 million Ugandans, accounting for 5.3% of the country’s population, were on Facebook.
The government’s decision to block Facebook was prompted by the Meta-owned application’s action of blocking numerous accounts of National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters deemed fake during the 2021 General Elections. Despite multiple attempts to resolve the issue, Facebook refused to comply with the government’s demands to restore the deleted accounts. This led millions of Ugandans to resort to using VPN applications to access the platform.
The closure of Facebook in 2021 impacted government entities such as the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), which earned sh700m in revenue from the app. Despite the closure, Facebook remains the most widely used platform, with various Ugandan entities, including government bodies, development partners, and private corporations, relying on VPNs to access the platform. URA anticipates collecting sh5b in tax revenue from the digital economy, reflecting the platform’s continued popularity.
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