The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has issued strict guidelines to broadcasters, warning against live streaming riots, broadcasting hate speech, and announcing election results without authorization, saying such actions risk inflaming violence and spreading misinformation during the electoral period.
Speaking on the guidelines, UCC Executive Director Nyombi Thembo said live coverage of riots poses a serious challenge to editorial control, particularly when reporters are broadcasting directly from the field.
“We have asked you, all broadcasters, not to live stream riots because during such encounters people say whatever they are going to say,” Nyombi said. “When you are in the field and live streaming, how will you delay so that you sieve out information that is unlawful? You cannot.”
Nyombi explained that while studios can apply broadcast delays to filter harmful content, the same safeguards do not exist during live field coverage.
“In the studio, you have a delay device. You can sieve, but in the field you can’t. That is why live streaming riots is not allowed,” he said, adding that such broadcasts often inflame already volatile situations.
The UCC has also reminded broadcasters that hate speech must not be aired under any circumstances.
“Why should you broadcast hate speech? Hate speech is intended to inflame situations. Who wants to inflame a situation? It is not good for anybody,” Nyombi said.
On election coverage, the UCC warned media houses against setting up or purporting to operate tally centres without legal authority.
“Don’t purport to have tally centres when you are not authorized by somebody who is constitutionally empowered to do this,” Nyombi said. “Yours is to report. The Electoral Commission is the one mandated to publish, announce, and declare results.”
Nyombi emphasized that electoral results are highly regulated and should not be treated like ordinary news.
“Electoral results are not news like any other. That is why we have a whole constitutional commission to handle them,” he said.
He revealed that the Commission plans to issue a directive requiring broadcasters to clearly state that any election results they report have been verified by the Electoral Commission.
“Everything related to results in an election, after you have reported those results, you have to follow it up with a statement that these results have been verified by the Electoral Commission,” Nyombi said.
The UCC says the measures are intended to prevent misinformation, particularly in the sensitive period between the close of polling and the official declaration of final results.
“We don’t want any misinformation in that period, and we don’t want any of our licensees to fall prey to non-compliance, because it will have very dire regulatory consequences,” Nyombi warned.
He urged broadcasters and journalists to familiarize themselves with their licensing obligations, noting that the UCC has the legal mandate to issue such directives.
“A license is a contract. Read it. The Commission may, from time to time, issue directives related to broadcasting, and that is what we are doing to ensure sanity during this process,” Nyombi said.