Godfrey Mutabazi, Executive Director at the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), said that they are working on launching their own versions of popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
It was reported that Mutabazi had the UCC receiving an investor who agreed to bring the social media projects to life.
"There is an investor who is bringing our own social media platforms," said Mutabazi.
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Mutabazi cited content being hosted outside Uganda as one of the reasons why the UCC is pursuing developing its own versions of social media platforms. In a bid to lower internet costs, he explained that "instead of Ugandans, for example, visiting Twitter, they will have something local that they will be able to use."
"The moment you access the internet, you first go to America and come back when you are surfing. But if we had our own content here, it will be cheaper."
As a way to get more Ugandans to use the planned social media platforms, government and telecommunication industry organizations should encourage the use and promote the government developed social media platforms.
Mutabazi also said that the commission has been encouraging smartphone manufacturers to create good but relatively cheap products in order to increase internet consumption in the country.
This however, is a worrying suggestion considering that during the run-up to the previous presidential elections in Uganda, the UCC "encouraged" telecommunications companies to shutdown social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp to "avoid violence" during the elections.
What's more, if social media networks are run by the government and locally, the government will have influence and direct control over which digital platforms citizens use. This move can also be seen, ultimately, as a way for the Ugandan government to eventually monitor and censor what users do and say on these social media platforms, which is similar to the "Great Firewall in China"
