Ugandan media groups and rights activists on Monday filed a court challenge to a controversial new internet law that they protest is aimed at curtailing free speech and quashing dissent.
A total of 13 petitioners, including an online TV station, lodged the complaint with the Constitutional Court over the legislation, which was signed into law by veteran President Yoweri Museveni last week.
The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act “threatens freedom of expression and targets those with divergent views”, one of the petitioners, Norman Tumuhimbise, told AFP.
Tumuhimbise works for Digital TV, which in March this year was raided by security agents. Nine of its staff including Tumuhimbise were arrested and charged with computer misuse and spreading false information.
According to the petition, the government has been given seven days to file a defence but it is not known when any hearings in the case would begin.
Amnesty International has called for the “draconian” law to be scrapped, warning that it was designed to “deliberately target critics of government and it will be used to silence dissent and prevent people from speaking out”.
Credit: rfi
