Social media suspension in Gabon.

27 March 2026

SOCIAL MEDIA SUSPENSION IN GABON

Since 27 February 2026, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp have been censored in Gabon. The decision was taken by the High Authority for Communication (HAC) to prevent the spread of content deemed a threat to national security and the stability of institutions.

But what are these videos or images that led the HAC to censor the whole country? Do they really exist?

In a context of social instability caused by the forced halt of classes and the repeated protests of teachers, several rumours are circulating.

This case of censorship is neither the first in Gabon nor the first in Africa.

Since 2020 in Guinea, numerous periods of internet censorship have been reported by media and human rights organisations. On the occasion of the digital rights forum of 23/12/2025 in Conakry, denunciations were made to alert the authorities to the situation. These censorships were sometimes partial following popular movements, or total during election periods to prevent and forestall gatherings of people. A procedure that hinders individual freedoms.

In Senegal: the country has experienced more than 1,219 hours of internet censorship between 2021 and 2024, declared illegal by the ECOWAS court. These censorships took place during periods of social mobilisation, notably during the protest movements following the conviction of Ousmane Sonko in 2023.

In Dakar, activists who came to support Ousmane Sonko after his arrest. SEYLLOU / AFP

There is also Sudan, whose instability has lasted for years, Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and, recently, Congo-Brazzaville, whose elections took place from 16 to 17 March 2026. According to Afrik Mag: “Governments often justify internet shutdowns by invoking national security problems, election-related tensions or efforts to prevent disinformation.”

In Gabon’s case, in 2016 and 2023, internet access was censored before and after the presidential results. In 2016, the connection was cut at the announcement of the outgoing president Ali Bongo to prevent the disclosure of the real figures on deaths caused by the repression following the popular uprising. The second time was to prevent potential waves of violence and mass gatherings at the announcement of the presidential results. However, the coup of the current president, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, eased the situation.

But how is it possible to censor the internet across an entire territory?

The president of Gabon, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, in January 2026. © Presidency of Gabon

Today, internet access can be cut by cabling problems, as in Cameroon or the Central African Republic, where the fibre-optic network is underground.

Censorship, for its part, can be ordered by governments and applied by private communication groups. In Guinea, it is the Franco-German company LS Telcom, which specialises in producing media control and regulation systems, that is behind the internet censorship. In 2024, Guinean social networks were censored for 3 months, then restored following the dissolution of the government, under the presidency of Mamadi Doumbouya.

According to the investigation by Thomas Dietrich, during the 2021 coup, one of Mamady DOUMBOUYA’s counterparts was in charge of controlling the presidency’s surveillance cameras, a key element that guaranteed the success of the operation. After the coup, President Mamady D.’s counterpart was appointed by presidential decree as director general of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPT).

This body regulates telecommunications in the country with the help of “an automated spectrum management system” supplied by LS Telcom. According to the same investigation, the company says it is “very proud to be able to put its know-how at the disposal of African countries so that they can develop their information and communication technology sector. It also maintains business relations with other French-speaking African countries such as Togo, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville and Tunisia, and has been a member of the African Telecommunications Union since 2016.

That said, the presence of European bodies in the restriction of fundamental freedoms in Africa raises another question.

Are we not witnessing a genuine recovery of colonial rhetoric? Indeed, despite the press freedom granted in 1946, the private press of the French colonies quickly disappeared after the independences of 1960, replaced by a state media monopoly and lasting political censorship in the name of national unity and development. Because censoring popular expression makes it possible to standardise discourse and not to jeopardise the stability of semi-authoritarian governments.

In Gabon, the absence of videos that could justify this national censorship leads the population to suppose that the government is seeking to hide pornographic videos that implicate them. According to these same rumours, several sums of money were stolen and the government is said to have signed agreements with France and other Western countries on the country’s mining and oil resources.

And if one of these rumours is true, cutting the networks means preventing gatherings and potential protests and blocking spaces of free exchange whose discussions could tarnish the image of Gabon and discredit the institutions.

Thus, the censorship has still not been lifted in Gabon and no further information has been given by the members of the High Authority for Communication.

However, despite the restriction, the population has managed to stay connected and continues its online activities by using VPNs. Faced with this, the HAC is now considering censoring their use as well. According to several of our correspondents, raids are being carried out at certain crossroads in greater Libreville to snatch users’ phones.

Standard VPNs are becoming slower and paid versions would have to be downloaded to browse properly. While the bill for these restrictive procedures runs to billions of CFA francs, the strike by teachers demanding several months of pay, and the electricity debt that leads to regular power cuts, call into question the government’s sense of priorities.

Are they really ready to do anything to keep their prestige?

Sources:

Thomas Dietrich documentary: https://youtu.be/ypHsn4kRRZc?si=QLd3w7qY8KBOY78V

Press freedom in the colonial era: Les censures dans le monde – Censure de l’information en Afrique subsaharienne francophone : la censure dans les régimes semi-autoritaires – Presses universitaires de Rennes

Censorship in Guinea Conakry: En Guinée, les restrictions d’accès à internet ont été levées https://www.guinee7.com/2025/12/24/guinee-la-societe-civile-denonce-une-censure-numerique-persistante/

Gabon:

Censorship 2016: https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/09/05/gabon-debrancher-internet-le-reflexe-de-l-autocrate_1484703/

Censorship 2023: Gabon: Fermeture des frontières, suspension de médias et coupure de l’internet – Un coup d’etat électoral en téléchargement – allAfrica.com

Current censorship: Marie Noëlle Ada Meyo : “Le Gabon mérite beaucoup mieux” [Interview] | Africanews

Social crises: Gabon : la grève des enseignants perdure | Africanews Tragédie au Lycée Léon Mba : un élève de première se donne la mort –

Censorship in Africa:

9 pays africains ayant connu le plus de coupures d’Internet en 2024