Uganda accuses Facebook of 'interfering' in tense polls

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan official accused Facebook of meddling in Uganda's election after several accounts linked to the campaign of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni were removed for alleged inauthentic behavior.

Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama told The Associated Press on Monday that Facebook's action was evidence of what Ugandan authorities see as outside support of Bobi Wine, the leading opposition candidate in presidential elections scheduled for Thursday.

“Facebook is interfering in the electoral process of Uganda,” he said. “If people wanted to have the evidence of outside interference, now they have it.”

In a statement e-mailed to AP, Facebook said it removed a network of accounts and pages that “used fake and duplicate accounts to manage pages, comment on other people’s content, impersonate users, re-share posts in groups to make them appear more popular than they were. Given the impending election in Uganda, we moved quickly to investigate and take down this network."

That network is linked to Uganda's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the statement said.

Wanyama charged that Facebook had blocked the accounts of Museveni's mobilizers, especially those who communicate in the local Luganda language.

Among those affected is a singer known as Full Figure, who is a well-known campaigner for Museveni, he said.

Some of the blocked Ugandan accounts campaigned harshly against presidential challenger Wine. The 38-year-old Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has fired the imagination of many across Africa as he tries to unseat Museveni, who has deployed the military to prevent what he sees as opposition attempts to create civil unrest that could cause regime change. Wine's rallies are often disrupted by police,...