The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) a body that grants licenses to media houses and other communication operators on top of regulating them in Uganda has given one month to all online news publishers, online newspapers and websites to get registered and licensed or else they risk closure.
During a stakeholder’s engagement meeting held on Monday, the 27th of May 2024 at UCC house on Spring Road Bugolobi Kampala the head of UCC legal Dr Abdu Salaam Waiswa told over 300 participants mainly operating online broadcasting that UCC has given websites up to 30th of June 2024 to have all operators registered and licensed or else they risk a whip to close their businesses.
Dr. Waiswa who took the participants through the legal, policy and operational issues regarding data communication, later disclosed that UCC has given only up to 30th June to have all those operating the website rather than online publications registered and licensed or else they risk the consequences.
During the engagement, UCC targeted online news publishers, online TV and Radio providers, bloggers, vloggers, digital audio radio and TV data communicators.
According to Dr. Waiswa UCC requires all online data communicators and news publishers to be obliged with the laws on registering a company at URSB, complying with NSSF, getting a URA TIN and even tax clearance if possible and having working contracts with the staff before UCC would issue a one-year operational license.
He said that registering and licensing online publishers would help so much in regulating them even in content management so that professionalism is realised.
“We have only 35 online publishers and 3 online TV licensed by UCC; the rest are operating illegally so the time is now to put your houses right,” Dr Waiswa revealed.
Digital TV turned up with their legal officer raised a concern that they submitted their licensing documents to UCC over a year but no operational license was granted to them yet they operate normally, something with forced an officer from UCC only identified as Kamukama a lady to apologise and vowed to rectify the mess.
Simon Muyanga Lutaya whose video on poor payment of journalists went viral recently insisted that UCC should emphasize the issue of media operators and owners signing contracts for scribes even on a minimum wage as agreed by the media house.
However, speaking to us the executive director of UCC Hon Nyombi Tembo disclosed that the UCC and online publisher’s engagement aims at professionalising the online newspapers because that is the way to go.
“We realised that the next generation and the current trend of technological advancement have shifted the media to online publishing, reading, and TV watching, therefore we felt that it would be of great importance to engage the online publishers so that they do professional work,” Nyombi Tembo said.
He added that most of the online newspapers publish stories of hate, unbalanced, unprofessional content yet they have a huge following since it is the trend of readership now.
However, he revealed that UCC has no powers on TikTok and YouTubers because they do not have the mandate to incense them but for such people, there are other constitutional laws that get them like the Computer Misuse Act and so forth.
Some people are paid money to write, talk and publish negative content online and by the time we realise as UCC, you find such websites are not licensed, Nyombi pointed out.
In the meantime, online publishers asked UCC to increase the periods of time for the unlicensed operators to get organised documents and register, licensed for more than one month. Also, they requested to be given a 5 years operational license instead of one year to renew again.
