Gabon has switched its social networks back on. The country's media regulator, the High Authority for Communication (HAC), said on Saturday 24 October that it had lifted the suspension it imposed on 17 February, ending eight months in which Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram were blocked and WhatsApp went on and off, according to AFP, as carried by Daily Trust.
What changes now
Access comes with conditions. Users must now provide formal identification, which in effect ends online anonymity, AFP reports. The HAC said the suspension had given the government time to "adapt its legal framework" to regulate social media, and that it is working with Meta, TikTok and YouTube to improve content moderation.
The decision was taken at an extraordinary plenary session chaired by Germain Ngoyo Moussavou, Bénin Web TV reports. The regulator says operational protocols with the platforms are now in place and give it reporting tools for content it considers illegal, and that delegations from TikTok and Meta may visit Libreville. Its statement did not set a timetable for restoring access on each network, and it asked users to act responsibly online.
Eight months offline
- The HAC blamed content posted online for stoking conflict and division when it cut the platforms on 17 February.
- The shutdown came as President Brice Oligui Nguema faced a wave of social unrest less than a year after his election.
- Proton reported a 60,000% jump in downloads of its VPN the day after the ban took effect, according to AFP.
- Traders, media houses and students who rely on the platforms complained of disruption, Bénin Web TV reports.
The opposition called the ban an abuse of power. Former prime minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, one of its loudest critics, has been in prison since April on charges of abuse of trust and fraud dating back to 2008.
