LIBREVILLE, Gabon — As critics accuse the country's leader of cracking down on dissent, Gabon's authorities announced that access to internet platforms and social media has been blocked throughout the central African country until further notice.
The communications agency claimed to have seen offensive, hateful, defamatory, and inappropriate content on social media and digital platforms that compromises national security, human dignity, and the nation's institutions.
According to the agency's statement, this is a violation of both national and international laws, as well as the moderation guidelines that major digital platforms have implemented.
The agency's spokesperson, Jean Claude Franck Mendome, said in a statement read on national media on Tuesday night that "the High Authority for Communication has decided to immediately suspend social media throughout Gabon until further notice."
On Wednesday, social media sites like Meta and TikTok experienced significant disruptions. The two are the most popular among Gabonese people, along with WhatsApp, Meta's messaging app. On Wednesday, there were also notable interruptions to WhatsApp calls.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba was overthrown by Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who was charged with reckless leadership.
With Oligui Nguema's victory in the presidential election last year, there were expectations that constitutional democracy would return. Critics, however, claim that he has been cracking down harder on dissenting opinions, namely targeting trade unions and independent media. Last year, two labor unionists and a journalist were put in jail.
