Following on the closing of Donald Trump’s Twitter account and just three days before Uganda’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections on Thursday 14th January, Facebook has now closed President Museveni’s account, as well as many other accounts belonging to senior government officials. They are accused of seeking to manipulate public debate in various illegal ways.

Reuters has said, “Facebook has taken down a network in Uganda linked to the country’s ministry of information for using fake and duplicate accounts to post ahead of this week’s presidential election.”

The BBC’s correspondent Patience Atuhaire in Kampala explains that the campaign period has been dominated by social media as political parties have moved to reach a young, politically aware population.

More than 80% of the population were born after Museveni became President in 1986. Most of those able to vote have a phone and access to social media. Is this action by Facebook too late to prevent the influence and effect that so much fake news and false information has inevitably had on the population?

For more information, see:

1. https://www.france24.com/…/20210111-facebook-shuts…