Uganda's parliament doesn't pay social media tax

Ugandan opposition MP Kaps Fungaroo has complained that he is unable to access applications like Twitter on his official iPad because parliament is not paying the controversial social media tax.

The Ush200 ($0.05) per day tax on using social media apps came into effect in July.

It inspired protests as some complained that it stifled the right to freedom of expression.

Mr Fungaroo told parliament that he is unable to communicate with people on his iPad without those apps.

The office of the administrative head of parliament has responded by saying that the iPads were issued to cut printing costs.

Instead of receiving physical copies of large reports, MPs now read them on their tablets.

The data contract with the service provider does not include the social media tax, but MPs are free to use their own devices to get on social media, it adds.