Silence as Complicity: How Media Omission During 2026 Elections Undermines Justice and Accountability in Uganda
In any democratic society, the media plays a central role in documenting events, informing the public, and supporting access to justice. When credible media institutions fail to report on human rights violations, especially during elections, this omission is not neutral. It actively weakens accountability, distorts public memory, and limits victims’ pathways to justice. In contexts like Uganda’s recent elections, media silence has become a structural barrier to human rights protection. Research on media freedom under authoritarian and semi-authoritarian governments shows a clear pattern. States rarely rely only on outright censorship. Instead, they use regulatory pressure, licensing threats, advertising control, intimidation of journalists, and selective access to information to direct narratives. The result is not always loud propaganda, but quiet omission. Violations happen, but they are not recorded by institutions that are considered credible, authoritative, or admissible in lega...