Digital

Celebs, digital marketers whine as social media taxes bite hard

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Social media tax in Uganda

It is now a day and a few hours since government slapped taxes on mobile transactions and usage of social media platforms. The phase-out of social media bundles by telecom companies is the same time old.

The timeline might appear short but a lot of significant things have unfolded since the move was affected. Everyone has been affected in their own way, but there is a group of people who are, from the look of things, being hit hard: people who make a living through digital marketing and celebrities who, without engagement on their posts, insecurities kick in.

It is understood that, for the most part, an influencer will feel they have done their job, depending on the impressions their posts get. But when these taxes were introduced, the vast majority of people resorted to VPNs, implying that somehow, when you post something on social media, followers with VPNs installed on their phones will have their IP addresses in different locations, thus, there are chances that you might not target them. This, to a marketer, is a threat to his job.

The VPN area may not prove to be a big issue, since, with time, most people are most likely to abandon them, as it is an expensive way of accessing internet compared to paying the social media tax. Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director Eng. Godfrey Mutabazi has also emphasised that telecoms must block VPNs.

The cause of the most significant drop in the traffic on social media is most likely a result of putting social media bundles to a halt; social media bundles were cheaper since they were restricted to Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The output of data bundles was minimal.

But now that one has to buy non-restricted bundles for social media, it implies that when you switch on the data button, all your applications are running, including apps, which would need automatic updates; with this, the consumption rate of data becomes high, thus people will be forced to spend less time (or more money) on social media.

As these harsh and bitter observations are hit in the digital marketers’ faces, most of them have resorted to churning out rants on social media, hoping that maybe their voices could be hard.

The marketers include topnotch celebrities like Sheilah Gashumba who has called Uganda “a joke”, Eddy Kenzo, who said people advising the President are misleading him, and Anitah Fabiola, who at one time cried for Ugandans to pay the tax so that their posts can get engagement, and later said that Ugandans should “stop blaming government for your problems.”

 

https://twitter.com/Anitahfabiola/status/1013428536701571072

 

https://twitter.com/DenzelUG/status/1012704648388472832

Other influential digital marketers like Adrian Mwesigwa, Phathahofficial, Albert Mucunguzi, and Ugaman01 , who has even started multiple campaigns against the taxes, have weighed in.

https://twitter.com/_mwes/status/1013407911022915584

Amidst this wailing and complaining, a lot of steps are being taken, including a dialogue that was called for by the ICT Minister Frank Tumwebaze and another that is reported to be happening today between telecom operators and the communications regulator.

Below are some of the other reactions from some digital marketers and celebrities.

 

 

 

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