THE SPREAD OF THE INTER- net has opened Uganda to a vast array of trends and influences that would have had little effect in previous years. However, many Ugandans who have peered into this brave new world are not sure they like what they see – especially the two pornography sites featuring Ugandans that took the country by surprise recently.
The sites, one of which is titled hotugandans.com, came to public attention in July. They displayed explicit pictures and videos, alongside contact addresses in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.
According to various reports, the pages were hosted in Canada, and popular with Ugandans living abroad who used credit cards to pay for access to the material. A public outcry has since led to the websites being blocked – in an ironic twist, visitors to hotugandans.com are now directed to the site of Benny Hinn Ministries. But, the debate about the globalised society that enabled them to emerge rages on.
"When it comes to morality, globalisation is not a good thing because it is making us accept gay practices, pornography and reducing the age of consent for sex," Stephen Langa, executive director of the Family Life Network, said. This non-governmental organisation, located in Kampala, advocates traditional values through counselling and education.
As with the pornographic sites, Red Pepper's mix of nudity and scandal sparked outrage and calls for anti-pornography legislation to be put in place.
"The criticism we received in the beginning was not justified. Certain people interpreted it as pornography, but it was not," Mr Rugyendo said. "All we were doing was exposing what was previously deemed as non-African."
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