Gabon has suspended some social media platforms, citing concerns that posts could undermine social cohesion and threaten the stability of institutions and national security, the Central African country’s media regulator said in a statement.
The High Authority for Communication ordered the immediate suspension “until further notice,” without specifying which platforms were affected.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said on Wednesday that access to Meta (META.O), services, YouTube, and TikTok was now restricted in Gabon.
Reports said that Facebook, Instagram, and X remained accessible as of Wednesday afternoon.
Digital platforms and activists are violating Gabonese law by spreading “inappropriate, defamatory, hateful, and abusive” content online, the HAC said late Tuesday.
It is dicey to determine whether a specific post or series of posts had triggered the decision. A government spokesperson could not immediately be reached.
The suspension “amounts to paralysing a significant part of the country’s economic and social activity in a context already marked by unemployment and the cost of living,” said civil society member Nicaise Moulombi.
“Social networks are no longer mere tools for entertainment. They have become instruments of work, citizen expression, commerce, innovation, and even democratic mobilisation,” Moulombi said.
Reuters