Strikes rise. Arrests follow. Now social media goes dark.
Gabon has suspended access to Facebook and TikTok following a surge of anti-government protests, regulators said, citing national security concerns and the spread of harmful online content.
AFP journalists in the capital confirmed Wednesday that both platforms were inaccessible, a day after the High Authority for Communication announced the “immediate suspension of social media platforms in Gabon until further notice.”
In a televised statement, the regulator’s spokesman, Jean-Claude Mendome, said online posts were fueling instability.
He pointed to what he described as “inappropriate, defamatory, hateful, and insulting content” that he said undermined public morality, social cohesion and the stability of state institutions.
He also cited the spread of false information, cyberbullying and the unauthorized disclosure of personal data.
While the regulator did not name specific platforms in its initial announcement, Facebook and TikTok were confirmed to be affected.
The authority said freedom of expression remains a constitutional right in Gabon, but argued that certain online activities risked triggering social conflict and destabilizing the country.
The suspension comes less than a year after President Brice Oligui Nguema was elected following a military-led transition. Oligui seized power in 2023 by ousting longtime leader Ali Bongo, whose family ruled Gabon for more than five decades. He won the April 2025 election by a wide margin, promising reforms and improved living standards.
Instead, his administration now faces mounting unrest. Teachers have been on strike since December, demanding better pay and working conditions after years of wage freezes that have eroded incomes amid rising living costs. Protests have since spread to other public sectors, including health, higher education and state broadcasting.
Opposition leader Alain-Claude Billie-By-Nze condemned the social media ban, calling it an attempt to impose “a climate of fear and repression.” In a Facebook post before the platform went offline, he urged civil society and citizens to resist what he described as an attack on fundamental freedoms.
Authorities last month arrested two prominent figures linked to the teachers’ movement, a move that critics say has heightened tensions and discouraged open discussion of the strikes.
With social media now restricted and public sector protests continuing, Gabon’s political climate appears increasingly strained — testing the reformist image President Oligui sought to project after his rise to power.
