{"id":6973,"date":"2026-01-22T01:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/?p=6973"},"modified":"2026-01-22T01:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:12:19","slug":"uganda-shuts-down-internet-ahead-of-election-orders-rights-groups-to-halt-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/2026\/01\/22\/uganda-shuts-down-internet-ahead-of-election-orders-rights-groups-to-halt-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda shuts down internet ahead of election, orders rights groups to halt work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/uganda-orders-two-rights-groups-halt-work-days-before-election-2026-01-13\/\">https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/uganda-orders-two-rights-groups-halt-work-days-before-election-2026-01-13\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Internet access was shut off by the Ugandan government two days prior to an election that would be President Yoweri Museveni\u2019s seventh as president, he has been president of Uganda since 1986 when he seized the presidency. Internet access was blocked by Uganda Communications Commission as a means of preventing \u201cmisinformation\u201d and \u201celectoral fraud\u201d. In addition to blocking Internet access, the government is cracking down on opposition supporters as well as those who are supporting presidential candidate Bobi Wine. The government recently told two large human rights groups that they were to cease all operations because they are accused of being threats to national security. The United Nations Human Rights Office has stated there are arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, and intimidation going on during this election process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A shutdown of the Internet is another example of a larger trend of authoritarian regimes consolidating their power and restricting access to information to do so. By eliminating access to the Internet, it limits the ability of citizens to gather information regarding the elections, and therefore limits their ability to express descent. Additionally, shutting down NGOs will limit the amount of outside oversight of the elections, which will further limit the legitimacy of the elections. This will create increased political tensions, and will raise questions concerning whether or not Uganda will remain stable, and if Uganda will continue to adhere to the democratic values of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">International organizations could exert pressure upon the Ugandan government to turn on the Internet and to allow for independent observation of the elections. Organizations such as the African Union could put pressure on the Ugandan government to comply with international electoral standards. Civil society groups could continue to document human rights violations from outside of the country, and donor governments could tie financial aid to the protection of civil liberties and fair electoral processes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an example of the class topics of authoritarianism, the use of state power and democratic backsliding. This example directly relates to previous class discussions regarding legitimacy, controlling information, and how governments utilize institutional mechanisms to protect their authority through formalized electoral processes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Link: https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/uganda-orders-two-rights-groups-halt-work-days-before-election-2026-01-13\/ Internet access was shut off by the Ugandan government two days prior to an election that would be President Yoweri Museveni\u2019s seventh as president, he has been president of Uganda since 1986 when he seized the presidency. Internet access was blocked by Uganda Communications Commission as a means of preventing \u201cmisinformation\u201d and \u201celectoral fraud\u201d. In addition to blocking&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/2026\/01\/22\/uganda-shuts-down-internet-ahead-of-election-orders-rights-groups-to-halt-work\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":321,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/321"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6974,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973\/revisions\/6974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/subsaharanafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}