Cheap internet is good; safe internet is better
"Affordability, however, is only one part of the responsibility. The Uganda Communications Commission’s 2020 survey found that only 9.1% of parents used tools to filter or block unsafe websites. Just 5.9% used controls over applications children could download, while 4.8% used software limiting who could contact their children," writes Barbara Kaija
Barbara Kaija. (File)
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OPINION
At a mall, a parent walks into a mobile money shop and buys a small data bundle. The money could have gone towards another household need, but a child has homework requiring information from the Internet.
The child returns home delighted. Within minutes, a world of educational videos, reference materials, games and conversations becomes available. For that family, the data bundle represents opportunity.
For the telecommunications company, it is another transaction. Yet the connection also opens the door to risks that neither the parent nor the child may fully understand.
This familiar situation raises a question for Uganda’s telecommunications industry: Can the companies helping our children connect also help them connect more safely?
Cost of opportunity
For many Ugandan households, Internet access remains a financial decision and a far-off dream.
UNICEF’s 2025 research, involving children in five eastern and southern African countries including Uganda, found that 31% cited slow connections or poor signal as barriers to internet use. Another 30% cited expensive data, 20% shared devices, while 13% lacked reliable electricity.
Uganda’s own 2020 Children’s Online Survey identified similar challenges among parents and guardians who could not access the Internet when they wanted. Device costs were cited at 23% and data costs at 22%.
These are findings from different surveys and should not be treated as a single national estimate. Nevertheless, they describe difficulties many families face.
A child in Kampala may watch an educational video repeatedly, while another in a rural community struggles to download a single lesson. The difference is not necessarily intelligence or determination. Sometimes it is simply the price of data, the availability of a device or the strength of the signal.
Expanding affordable and reliable connectivity is therefore an investment in educational opportunity.
What happens after connection?
The survey does not establish why these tools were rarely used. Some parents may not have known they existed. Others may have found them difficult to install or understand.
Imagine how much easier things could become if a parent purchasing a SIM card received simple guidance on activating child-friendly settings. Such information could be available in English and widely spoken Ugandan languages, with customer care staff trained to explain the options.
A family should not need advanced technical knowledge to understand basic online protection.
What regulator has said
The Uganda Communications Commission has already recognised this need. Its 2020 report recommended that internet service providers be required to offer free parental control tools, alongside stronger public awareness, support for local safety innovations and co-operation against child sexual abuse material.
These were recommendations, and their current implementation status requires confirmation. Their underlying message remains relevant: families cannot manage every digital risk without support from the companies and institutions providing access.
Responsibility must also be properly understood. UNICEF places primary responsibility for preventing harmful interactions and content on online platforms and the wider technology industry, supported by effective regulation.
Internet service providers are not expected to read every message or moderate every online conversation. Their contribution lies in providing reliable connectivity, simple protective tools, accessible reporting information and lawful co-operation with relevant authorities.
Learning from our neighbours
Rwanda’s child online-protection framework assigns responsibilities to internet service providers, public Wi-Fi operators and other actors in the digital environment.
Kenya has developed industry guidelines alongside a national child online-protection action plan, while Tanzania’s online-content regulations address the protection of children from harmful material.
These approaches have not eliminated online abuse, and enforcement remains challenging. Nevertheless, they show that child protection is increasingly being considered part of responsible digital-service provision.
Making safety part of the service
Consider the practical possibilities. A family data package could provide affordable access to approved educational resources and straightforward information about online safety. A customer purchasing a new SIM card could receive an SMS explaining how to activate parental controls.
Internet providers could promote the toll-free Sauti Child Helpline, 116, through their customer communication channels. Public Wi-Fi services used by children could offer appropriate safety settings, while companies could support schools and community organisations delivering digital-literacy education.
Providers could also partner with Ugandan innovators to develop simple, affordable tools suited to local devices and languages.
Where suspected child exploitation occurs, companies should co-operate promptly and lawfully with authorised investigators, while protecting privacy and handling evidence appropriately.
None of these actions requires an internet provider to replace parents, teachers or law-enforcement agencies. They require the industry to recognise its place within a wider system of child protection.
Beyond the number of connections
Uganda’s telecommunications companies have helped transform daily life. Mobile money, digital communication and access to information are now woven into the country’s social and economic fabric.
As the industry continues expanding, its contribution to national development can be measured in more than network coverage, subscriber numbers and data consumption.
It can also be measured by the opportunities created for children in underserved communities and the practical safeguards offered to families.
The parent buying that small data bundle at a trading centre is not asking for a complicated technology policy. That parent wants a child to learn, remain connected and stay safe in the digital world.
Affordable Internet opens the door. Responsible connectivity helps ensure that what lies beyond it is worth entering.
This is part of the Smart but Safe series on protecting and empowering Uganda’s children online.
The writer is an educationist, media communication specialist and the chairperson of the board of the Emerging Leaders’ Programme Kaijabarbara@gmail.com WhatsApp: 0708746624