Digital Media in Uganda

Abstract

This chapter is an analysis of the law in the face of the growing digital media in Uganda. It begins with a summary of Uganda's digital media terrain which helps the chapter to raise an argument of numbers in relation to relevance and external pressure, as forces behind digital media regulation. The background introduces the gist of the chapter, which is the regulation of Uganda's media in the digital age. A recent court case in Uganda, in which a local singer was sentenced to one year in jail along with her video producer, who was convicted for producing a pornographic music video that was distributed online, inspires this chapter. Didi Mugisha pleaded guilty and became the first victim of the Anti-Pornography Act, which was signed into law in 2014. Beyond that court drama and the international fame it garnered are some serious concerns. First is the relationship between the bulk of Uganda's media laws and the existing producer/consumer digital platforms, and secondly are the broad implications the current state of affairs of that and similar laws has on the freedom of expression.