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VPNs Floods Uganda As Social Media Users Tries To Avoid Tax
- Social Media users embraces various VPNs as their saviour
- Government Vow to Block VPN Use
A couple of months ago, we told you that Ugandans would soon be taxed for using social media come July 1, this year. Now that social media use in Uganda has officially become a taxable activity, it automatically means that handlers of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Tinder and other services have all been hit by this new bill.
According to the government’s decree, everything from Tinder to Tumblr must be blocked by ISPs except users make the tax payment from their mobile phones.
VPNs are now the order of the day as users now sees them as their saviour to avoid this new terror on their wallets. In response to this development, the administration says it has ordered local ISPs to begin blocking VPNs.
In a joint statement, ISPs MTN, Airtel, and Africell informed their customers that the services listed above would be blocked until payment is made. Payment must be made in advance via mobile phones, with a small discount available if customers pay a month up front.
Below are the examples of OTT which social media tax will affect starting from 1st .july .2018 in uganda.#UgandaSocialMedia pic.twitter.com/bW24lPxqJG
— Isaac Nahamya (@inahamya) June 28, 2018
Within hours of the news that VPNs were gaining in popularity, the government stepped in to do something about it.
In a statement, Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director, Godfrey Mutabazi said that Internet service providers would be ordered to block VPNs to prevent citizens from avoiding the social media tax.