‘I will not delete my posts’: Inside Uganda’s crackdown on online critics

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that critics of Uganda’s government and security agencies say they are facing arrests, intimidation and alleged abductions over social media posts and online speech. The article, published from Kampala on Nov. 4, 2026, centers on several cases involving people who say they were targeted after criticizing President Yoweri Museveni, his son and military chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, or state conduct more broadly.

One case involves Praise Aloikin Opoloje, who was detained in late September and charged over alleged misuse of a SIM card registered to her mother. She says the case followed a video in which she refused to retract comments about Muhoozi. Opoloje alleges she was seized by men, beaten and threatened, though those claims could not be independently verified. She was later granted bail. The report also describes Emmanuel Baliza’s search for his 17-year-old son William, whom he says armed men took after the teenager posted online and expressed interest in protesting police brutality and education problems. The family says it still does not know where he is being held.

The article further highlights journalist and activist Andrew Tabandama Natumanya, who says he was targeted after posting updates about a security operation involving properties linked to former parliament speaker Anita Among. He says armed personnel abducted and assaulted him and warned him against continuing to publish. He says he intends to keep reporting. A lawyer quoted by Al Jazeera says he has represented multiple social media users charged under Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act, often after criticizing the president or Muhoozi.

Uganda’s military denies wrongdoing and says arrests and investigations follow the law. The broader context, as described by Al Jazeera, is a tightening environment for online dissent in which families and lawyers often struggle to learn where detainees are held.