The first country in the world will tax Facebook and Twitter users

From next July, Uganda will start taxing users of social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter . People in this country will pay 200 Ugandan Shilling, equivalent to 0.05 USD / day to used social networks.

According to Ugandan Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija, this tax will help increase revenue to maintain national security and expand the electricity network. This is so that people can enjoy social networks more and more often .

Human rights activists have criticized the move and argue that the purpose of taxing social network users is to prevent freedom of expression.

Many analysts argue that this measure of Uganda will not be very effective because in this African country only more than 40% of internet users. Uganda has 41 million people, including 23.6 mobile users and 17 million internet users. Moreover, the cost of using internet in Africa is ranked among the most expensive in the world.

In the national election in 2016, the Ugandan government blocked Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp social networks to prevent anti-destructive movements. This measure is also used by some other African countries.

In Tanzania, an East African country is also planning to tighten management of Internet use. Last month, the country also enacted regulations that every citizen with a blog or website has to pay an annual license fee of 1 million Shillings (equivalent to 440 USD).

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