Digital rights and freedoms should be accorded equal protection as offline rights and freedoms, in line with the landmark United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/20/8. The resolution emphasises the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet. Uganda is bound by national, regional and international obligations that protect freedom of expression, access to information, equality and non-discrimination, privacy, data protection, participation in public affairs and access to remedy.
Uganda was last reviewed during the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in January 2022. In that cycle, Uganda received 273 recommendations, of which it supported 139 and noted 134. The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and partners such as the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) made a joint submission, highlighting the state of digital rights and suggesting measures to the government to improve the country’s digital rights record. Since the last review, Uganda has made some progress in connectivity, data protection enforcement and digital public service delivery. Nevertheless, this progress has been largely undermined by recurring controls, restrictions and curtailment of online freedoms.
Uganda’s internet freedom score declined from 53/100 in 2024 to 52/100 in Freedom House’s 2025 assessment, with concerns including restrictive laws, arrests and prison sentences for online expression, continued regulation of online news media and online intimidation of vulnerable groups. This score places Uganda among the partly free countries in the region, reflecting an elevated pattern of limitations and curtailment of digital spaces.
This report examines the state of online rights and freedoms in Uganda, with a focus on expression, access to information and censorship, digital connectivity and inclusion, data protection and privacy, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, particularly against women human rights defenders.
Read the summary of the submission here.
Read the full stakeholder submission here.