Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Patro Uganda, a fast-rising digital media platform, is establishing itself as a key player in Uganda’s online news landscape. The platform, which focuses on entertainment, celebrity gossip, sports, politics, and global affairs, has strategically positioned itself to engage Uganda’s youth- majority population, with 75% …
Read More »Why Meta is in trouble in Nigeria
What this means for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users COMMENT | TOLU OLAREWAJU & JAGANNADHA PAWAN TAMVADA | Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, was recently hit with three fines totalling more than US$290 million in Nigeria. The fines were imposed by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection …
Read More »Call 112 Film: What’s the impact of social media disinformation?
‘Call 112’ world premieres in Kampala Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | O Studios Entertainment has premiered a film, Call 112 by acclaimed director Usama Mukwaya at Acacia Mall. Call 112 exposes the threat that disinformation poses to stability. The highly anticipated film, brought together in a partnership between Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung …
Read More »Social media bad before sleep?
Study compares it with watching TV, movies, or reading on a mobile device ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | A new Norwegian study finds that one hour of screen time at bedtime results in a 59% higher risk of insomnia and 24 fewer minutes of sleep. The findings indicate that social media use …
Read More »Polarisation on social media
Meta’s big changes in how the company addresses misinformation mean the dynamics that shape it are about to worsen COMMENT | COLIN M. FISHER | Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced big changes in how the company addresses misinformation across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Instead of relying on independent …
Read More »South Sudan suspends social media access
KINSASHA, SOUTH SUDAN | THE INDEPENDENT | All major social media apps operating in South Sudan have been blocked, as the government tries to protect its citizens in Sudan from attacks. The action by the internet service providers, MTN and Zain is in response to the Wednesday directive by Juba …
Read More »Priest Warns Candidates, Parents: Beware of social media
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | As parents pray for their children who are in candidate classes to pass the examinations, they have been urged to beyond that, take particular responsibility to ensure the children do not get spoilt by social media and other influences during vacation. Speaking Saturday at the …
Read More »MUSEVENI: Stop ‘nyeko’ against Nalweyiso and Mukasa
The big problem for the parasites seems to be the unstoppable growth of Uganda’s economy COMMENT | YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI | My social media team has drawn my attention to social media stories that are partially true but also false and malicious. It is true that, on my orders, after …
Read More »Battle of the Hashtags
Inside Uganda’ s social media disinformation campaigns COVER STORY | As Uganda edges closer to yet another election cycle in 2026, The Independent’s RONALD MUSOKE revisits one of the most controversial government decisions during election campaigns; the January 13, 2021 ban on Meta’s platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and You Tube on …
Read More »Legal standards, norms for internet governance
A lack of global norms leaves Uganda’s government able to manipulate social media COMMENT | SOLOMON WINYI | Uganda is facing many of the same challenges with social media as other countries but the lack of globally accepted regulations has left a path for an authoritarian regime to stifle the public …
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