The Minister for Information Communications Technology (ICT) and National Guidance, Frank Tumwebaze has advised internet users to be security conscious of cybercrimes which he said are on the rise in the region.
The Minister was speaking at the World Communication Day commemoration ceremony held at Virika Parish in Kabarole District at the weekend.
He further warned against social media abuse saying it forces the hand of the government to regulate the use of the platforms.
“There is need to filter social media content that the public posts on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter,” he said.
“Some people have taken advantage of such platforms to terrorize the country instead of using the new innovations to transform the country.”
Tumwebaze said; “in other countries such as UK, everything that goes on air is first filtered but here in Uganda we have not reached that. We need to be ambassadors of our information.”
Social media in Uganda has become a major tool for dissemination of information from government Agencies, private companies and individuals.
The platforms have however been used by certain individuals to attack government and to spread hate speech which the Minister says is wrong.
Popular among the people attacking the government is micro blogger Tom Voltaire Okwalinga (TVO) who has been leaking classified government information on his Facebook timeline.[related-posts]
