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Uganda Rolls Out a 5-Cent Daily Tax To Access Social Media (time.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the nickel-and-dime dept.

The government of Uganda is taxing social media users at a rate of 5 cents per day, which does not include the usual data fees. "The tax on users of sites such as Facebook was first proposed by long-time leader Yoweri Museveni, who complained of online gossip in a March letter that urged finance minister to raise money 'to cope with the consequences,'" reports Time. From the report: Service providers, including regional telecommunications giant MTN, said in a joint statement Sunday that starting July 1 the levy would be charged on "Over The Top services," including access to websites such as Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. The tax will be deducted by service providers that will then pay to the government revenue service. Amnesty International urged Ugandan authorities to scrap the tax, calling it "a clear attempt to undermine the right to freedom of expression" in the East African country. From the social media levy the government hopes to collect about Shs400 billion (about $100 million) in the current financial year.

3 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. If one wants to tax social media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One must first define social media.

  2. Excellent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is giving US ISPs a case to stand on for when they decide to charge users for specific services they want to access now that Net Neutrality is gone.

  3. Re:That's a massive tax by infolation · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm going to advance the hypothesis that Uganda will soon see a massive boom in VPN network use.

    The Ugandan government is way ahead of you and already blocking VPNs.