Gabon Suspends Social Media Platforms Indefinitely Amid Rising Unrest

Social media platforms in Gabon have been suspended “till additional discover,” the nation’s media regulator introduced on Tuesday, citing issues over on-line content material it says is fuelling division and instability.

A spokesperson for the Excessive Authority for Communication stated “defamatory, hateful and insulting content material” circulating on-line is stoking battle inside society. He added that the “unfold of false data,” “cyberbullying,” and the “unauthorised disclosure of non-public information” are destabilising authorities establishments and threatening democratic progress.

The regulator didn’t specify which social media platforms could be affected by the suspension. Nevertheless, it emphasised that “freedom of expression, together with freedom of remark and criticism,” stays “a elementary proper enshrined in Gabon.”

The choice comes as President Brice Oligui Nguema confronts his first main wave of social unrest since assuming workplace final 12 months.

Academics have been on strike since December over pay and dealing situations, with demonstrations spreading to different public sector staff, together with these in well being, greater training and broadcasting.

The suspension indicators mounting tensions between authorities and segments of the general public, as the federal government seeks to include unrest whereas balancing constitutional ensures of free expression.

Melissa Enoch

Times Nigeria