Tech giants’ dreams of free Internet wither in African backlash

Governments in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly ordering Internet service providers to shut their gateways or throttle data traffic when confronted with dissent or the threat of electoral defeat. — Business photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com

Uganda’s shutdown of social-media sites in January, right before a disputed election handed President Yoweri Museveni a sixth term, dealt a devastating blow to rice trader Elizabeth Nagunda: Her sales slowed to a near-halt.

“Before I would advertise, market my products on Facebook, WhatsApp, and even get customer orders” via those platforms, she said in an interview in Kampala, the capital. “I can’t run any more adverts online. Even if I do, there are no people to view them.”