TikToker sentenced to 32-month in prison for insulting Uganda’s President

A 21-year-old TikToker has been sentenced to 32-month in prison for insulting Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni in a video.

Emmanuel Nabugodi appeared in court for sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty to four charges, including hate speech and spreading malicious information about the president.

Known for his comedic content, Nabugodi had amassed 20,000 followers on the platform.

His controversial video featured a mock trial of President Museveni, where he called for the president’s public flogging.

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Rights organisations have raised concerns about restrictions on freedom of speech in Uganda, with many alleging that Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is intolerant of criticism.

In a similar case, Edward Awebwa received a six-year sentence in July for charges related to a TikTok post.

Additionally, three other creators are currently awaiting trial for their content on the platform.

During the sentencing, Chief Magistrate Stellah Maris Amabilis remarked on Nabugodi’s apparent lack of remorse, emphasising that the sentence aims to deter social media attacks against individuals, including the president.

“This court hopes that by the time the convict leaves prison, he would have learnt that abusing people in the name of getting content is bad,” she said.

She added that he had the right to appeal against the sentence within 14 days.

He was convicted under a controversial amendment in 2022 to the Computer Misuse Act.

It made it illegal to “write, send, or share any information through a computer, which is likely to ridicule, degrade, or demean another person, group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender”.

In its human rights report on Uganda last year, the US State Department said the “authorities used this law to intimidate internet users from criticizing government policies”.

Rights groups also regularly denounce the Ugandan authorities over violations of human rights and the freedom of expression.

In 2022, award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of “offensive communication” after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter.

He fled the country to Germany after spending a month in jail, where he said he had been tortured.

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