The Kampala Central Legislator – Mohammad Nsereko during a session in parliament.

Social media trends and behavior have not left Uganda the same, in the fight to catch-up with technology, social media has become inevitable as a global market space; for selling, communication, opportunity but also a huge platform for abuse of individual privacy and even rights.

The perpetrators often times feel unseen(which extends their liberty) and with no law really being wholly implemented, society has become flooded with disrespectful mannerisms towards persons encouraged by social media freedom.

The Kampala Central legislator Mohammad Nsereko has tabled a computer Misuse(amendment) Bill , 2022 before parliament and the object of the Bill is this;

“To enhance the provisions on un authorized access to information or data; to prohibit the sharing of any information relating to a child without authorization from parent or guardian; to prohibit the sending or sharing of information that promotes hate speech.”

As tabled by Mohammad Nsereko, the events discussed include; recording  of a person’s voice or video without permission, un authorized access to their personal information, it also makes the person convicted under the proposed law ineligible for public or elective office for a decade and imposes a fine of Shs15m or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or both.

“From the little that I have heard, Nsereko has great intentions in the Bill especially in the provision that seeks to protect children. He must have authored it based on his experience as a lawyer, father and leader in this country, I think this is a just Bill,” Anita Among -Speaker, parliament.

Many activists have however stood to question the purpose of this bill as some think its a duplication of other acts on child protection, privacy , already discussed in other Acts.

HRNJ-U Executive Director- Robert SSempala says that the Bill attempts to curtail press freedom and freedom of expression.

MP Nsereko on the other hand insists that the proposals are to strike a balance between enjoyment of rights and respect of individual privacy by criminalizing abuse on social media platforms and sharing online of un solicited, false malicious, hateful or un warranted information.

The speaker of parliament – Hon. Anita Among plans to scrutinize the proposal clause by clause with her team.

Courtesy photo.