By Our Reporter
The Uganda Social Media Conference is returning for its 6th edition this month. It was announced on Thursday during a virtual press briefing conducted via zoom.
Organized by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Uganda and South Sudan, the conference brings together key stakeholders from government, civil society, academia, and the media for an exchange on the state and impact of social media on society.
“The conference aims to promote the exchange of ideas, networking, and collaboration on the topics of citizen engagement, political campaigning, misinformation, political polarization, populism, e-government, smart cities, and other emerging topics,” said Opolot Nicholas, the Uganda Social Media conference coordinator and Programs Officer at KAS Uganda.
This year’s Social Media Conference will run under the theme “Digital democracy in a Post Pandemic Era”, highlighting how Social Media has facilitated citizen journalism, Elections in Africa, its impact on mental health among many other topics.
Also key among the topics that will be covered at the conference will be how to tackle the emerging digital threats including extremism, trafficking, and Radicalization, the Gig economy which is currently a major source of income for unemployed youths in urban centres, and the crisis of state surveillance, digital privacy, and data protection.
“The Conference will be hosted in a hybrid format to ensure effective interaction between online participants (participants that are not at the venue) and onsite participants (participants that can attend the venue). Only the opening day will be a physical format + limited participants and will be broadcasted live,” Opolot added.
The conference will be held from 25th – 26th August 2021 at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel. It will also be broadcast live on social media and select local television stations.