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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.

6 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory by pr0t0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Uganda be kidding me!

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    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
  2. That's a massive tax by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bear in mind that many places in rural Uganda have shops where you can buy phone top ups for the local currency equivalent of 25 cents, 5 cent tax per day is a *massive* tax for a lot of Ugandans.

    1. Re:That's a massive tax by guruevi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm sure Ugandans are willing to pay a $15 monthly fee to avoid a $1.5 monthly tax

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Re:If you can tax it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is about the equivalent of a soda tax.

    Both sugar and the internet can make one unhealthy.

    One man's vice is another man's revenue stream.

    --
    "Look on the bright side, it'll be dark soon." -- Midnight Sun

    The funny thing is, if governments really want to reduce sugar consumption they can simply stop subsidizing sugar (and especially corn sugar/corn syrup) production.