Uganda's Internet Blackout: A Lesson Democracies Ignore
Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, a man who has held power for nearly 40 years, sought re-election with the usual dictatorial flourish: shut down the internet, deploy the military. A startling scene? Not if you’ve been paying attention since Project Dragon began in 2011, detailing repressive internet controls across Africa. Western media covers this as unfortunate, isolated incidents, rarely connecting
the dots to the same technology often sold by Western companies, or the hypocrisies of 'democratic' nations that cheer dissent in their adversaries but ignore it in allies. One might wonder why the outrage over an internet blackout in Kampala, designed to stifle dissent, isn't applied with the same vigor to, say, the systematic digital surveillance of activists in 'partner' states, or the
selective silence when an ally's 'election' looks more like an coronation. It’s almost as if some autocrats are more equal than others, especially when they serve geostrategic interests or provide valuable raw materials. The 'free world' seems to only care about internet freedom when it suits the regime change narrative.