The story told a story of Rebecca acquiring and failing to pay for services from a witch doctor over 20 years ago. The speaker states that the Daily Monitor published the story on its online portal with intention to hurt her reputation. In the suspension letter from UCC, Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi accused the website of non-compliance for failure to register with the regulator as per last year’s directive which instructed all online publishers to register. The commission has been battling fake news for quite some time and in August 2018, it directed all providers of online data communication services to register and gain authorization from UCC.
Daily Monitor under Investigation
UCC noted an increase in the incidences of fake publications on the digital platforms where people deliberately post unverified content to misinform and mislead the public. It is therefore in this regard that one of the leading websites in Uganda has been instructed not to publish any new content as the commission conducts an investigation into the matter. Daily Monitor website will be put under investigation to ascertain whether or not the story about the speaker was published “in accordance with the expected minimum standards and codes of ethics of journalism. They will also answer why the website is not registered with the commission yet it continues to publish news. We saw the commission suspend a Spark TV program, producer and presenterlast year.
