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How Ugandans Overturned an Election-Day Blackout of Social Media Apps (vice.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the how-to-do-it-anyways dept.

tedlistens writes: When Ugandans went to the polls last Thursday in presidential and parliamentary elections, they participated in the most heavily-contested political battle since multiparty democracy began in 2005. As reports swirled of vote buying and excessive use of force by the police on opposition protesters, it was the attempt to block access to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and mobile phone-based money services that produced the loudest reactions. In a country with the youngest population in the world, where 77 percent of the population is under 30 years of age, mobile apps have become vital to communication and commerce. During the three-day ban, an estimated 1.5 million citizens, or 15 percent of the internet-using populace, downloaded VPN software and Tor to reroute their internet connections and return to social media, where discussion about the election continued to rage.

4 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Whats that old saying by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Anyone remember who first said "The Internet interprets censorship as a fault and routes around it" or something to that effect?

    This is a perfect example.

    1. Re:Whats that old saying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      ...a perfect example of people doing whatever they can to complain about things to their peers instead of actually getting out and trying to fix them.

  2. What's so bad by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's so bad that the incumbents decided it was better to piss everyone off by banning social media than let them talk about it?

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  3. west's exaggerated notion of power of media by sittingnut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if we stick to facts as opposed to hype, we learn that while use of methods to go round the blocked media increased, it did not change much. nor should it.
    same thing happened after the so called 'arab spring', all those stories about westernized arab liberals chasing away mubarak using social media. (some western media even calling it the twitter revolution.) then parties representing them got very little votes, while muslim brotherhood and other islamist parties won big. and then military took back the power.

    westerners have highly exaggerated notion of power of media, in their own countries and elsewhere. in their minds success of unwanted politicians, whether they be foreign 'dictators', or local right/left wingers, are due mainly to propaganda for them, and/or censorship of opponents, through media. not so.

    people and issues are more complex than that.