By Ogungbayi Beedee Adeyemi
adeyemi@ddnewsonline.com
TikTok has ranked Uganda among the world’s top producers of harmful online content, deleting over 1.5 million videos from Ugandan accounts in the first half of 2025 alone – a staggering figure that surpasses removals in populous European nations like France, Italy, and Spain, according to the platform’s latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Report (CGER).
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The revelation, buried in TikTok’s Q1-Q2 2025 transparency data released Thursday, underscores Uganda’s explosive TikTok growth with 5.5 million active users as of late 2024 – but highlights a dark underbelly of violations including hate speech, misinformation, youth exploitation, and dangerous challenges. Globally, TikTok axed over 378 million videos in H1 2025, but Uganda’s per-capita deletion rate stands out alarmingly high.
“TikTok’s algorithms and moderators are working overtime in Uganda because the content ecosystem here is uniquely volatile,” said a platform spokesperson in a statement to DDNewsOnline. “We removed 99.1% of harmful videos proactively – before a single view or report – but the volume demands even stronger local partnerships.”
The report attributes Uganda’s high rate to a mix of political satire turning toxic, ethnic tensions amplified via “common nuisance” content, and youth-driven trends veering into bullying or scams. In Q4 2024 alone, Sub-Saharan Africa saw 8 million removals, up 14% from prior quarters, with Uganda contributing significantly alongside Nigeria and Kenya.
Uganda’s TikTok boom – fueled by cheap data and smartphone penetration – has made it a battleground for dissent. President Yoweri Museveni’s administration has cracked down on creators, arresting dozens under colonial-era laws for “offensive” posts targeting the first family or Banyankole elites. High-profile cases include TikToker Stella Nansubuga, jailed in April 2025 for a satirical video, and Muwonge Mbabazi, facing trial for “hate speech.”
Religious leaders like Mufti Ramadan Mubajje have called for a ban, decrying “moral decay” from leaked tapes and explicit content. “TikTok is poisoning our youth,” Mubajje said in March 2025. Yet, no outright ban materialized; instead, the government clarified in April it had “no plans” to restrict the app, amid viral hoaxes claiming otherwise.
Critics blame lax moderation in local languages like Luganda and Swahili, plus economic desperation driving scam videos. “Creators chase virality without ethics – politics pays in views,” said digital rights activist Nicholas Opiyo.
The rankings echo concerns in Kenya (600,000 deletions in Q2 2025) and Nigeria, where BBC probes exposed child exploitation. As U.S. ban threats loom over data privacy, Ugandan creators fear collateral fallout.
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) vows “stricter guidelines” by year-end, but activists warn of stifled free speech. “Harmful content is real, but so is silencing opposition,” said Opiyo.
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With 1.5 billion global users, TikTok’s Uganda purge is a microcosm of the app’s tightrope: fostering creativity while curbing chaos.
DDNewsOnline