National shutdown
Mobile Internet, Broadband
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) ordered the social media platforms to be blocked to safeguard against misuse that could threaten public order following the national elections on 15 January 2026.
- Total Duration 9 days, 20 hours
Uganda
- Population
- 50,015,092
- UN Classification
-
- Least Developed Country
- Land Locked Developing Country
Freedom House rates Internet freedom as Partly Free
Local impact
These new orders by the UCC follow previous orders suspending Internet connectivity from 13 to 18 January 2026, despite publicly declaring that it would not block Internet connectivity during the election.
There are reports of further orders by the Bank of Uganda for MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda to block their mobile money services.
In December, Uganda's government also restricted imports of Starlink satellite Internet equipment. On 1 January 2026, Starlink disabled its service for users in Uganda at the request of the UCC.
Uganda last experienced a four-day national shutdown followed by a 1-day service blocking event in 2021, in the lead-up to its last general election.
Other supporting information
OONI data shows that access to specific social media and instant messaging apps – WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X – was blocked in Uganda following Internet connectivity resuming after being suspended between 13-18 January.
Similar anomalies were also detected for other Meta services Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
