Ugandan Government To Order Blocking of Facebook, Twitter To Quash Protests

The Ugandan government, facing social unrest over high food and fuel prices, will order its Internet service providers to block Twitter and Facebook. It's the latest move in controlling social media to control a popular social movement.

According to an official from the government of Uganda Twitter and Facebook are being used to foment public protests, which the opposition has dubbed "walk to work," and it's had enough. If there's more unrest, it will exercise its authority by writing to the nation's ISPs to force them to block access to these social networks and thus prevent more unrest. If there's more unrest, it will exercise its authority by writing to the nation's ISPs to force them to block access to these social networks and thus prevent more unrest. The protests are an expression of the public's unhappiness at soaring prices of essentials like food and fuel, and the government has used strong-arm tactics from the police and army to try to suppress them.