Gabon : les réseaux sociaux rétablis après huit mois de coupure
Social media, which had been suspended for more than eight months in Gabon, was restored on Saturday, the High Authority for Communication (HAC) announced.
The media regulatory authority announced on February 17 this suspension "until further notice", citing in particular the dissemination of "content undermining the stability of the institutions of the Republic and national security".
"The HAC has decided to lift the measure suspending social networks," said Jean-Claude Franck Mendome, spokesperson for the HAC, in a statement read on national television.
Facebook and TikTok, the most used social networks in this Central African country of nearly 3.5 million inhabitants, as well as Youtube and Instagram, were shut down for eight months, while Whatsapp worked partially.
However, the measure was largely circumvented through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
According to the regulatory authority, this shutdown was intended to "allow the government to adapt the legal framework for better regulation of the use of social networks".
Libreville notably made formal identification mandatory for all Gabonese users in October, thus ending online anonymity in the country.
The HAC also welcomed the fact that it had "developed an active collaboration with TikTok, Meta and YouTube", aimed in particular at "improving the moderation of content broadcast" on these platforms.
Targeted by several legal challenges, all of which were rejected, this decision had sparked strong criticism from the opposition.
One of the most critical, former Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, has been in prison since April, for a case related to a debt contracted in 2008 in the context of an official function.
The decision to suspend social media and the imprisonment of this opponent have contributed to the establishment of a repressive climate in the country, contrary to the democratic hope raised by the arrival in power of President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, elected in 2025 after having come to power by a coup in 2023.
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