Gabon suspends social media, citing threats to security and stability

LIBREVILLE, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Gabon has suspended some social media platforms, citing concerns that posts could undermine social cohesion and threaten the stability of institutions and national security, the Central African country’s media regulator said in a statement.

The High Authority for Communication ordered the immediate suspension “until further notice,” without specifying which platforms were affected.

Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said on Wednesday that access to Meta services, YouTube and TikTok was now restricted in Gabon. A Reuters witness reported that Facebook, Instagram and X remained accessible as of Wednesday afternoon.

Digital platforms and activists are violating Gabonese law by spreading “inappropriate, defamatory, hateful and abusive” content online, the HAC said late Tuesday. 

Reuters could not determine whether a specific post or series of posts had triggered the decision. A government spokesperson could not immediately be reached.

The suspension “amounts to paralysing a significant part of the country’s economic and social activity in a context already marked by unemployment and the cost of living,” said civil society member Nicaise Moulombi.

“Social networks are no longer mere tools for entertainment, they have become instruments of work, citizen expression, commerce, innovation, and even democratic mobilization,” Moulombi said.

Gabon’s president, Brice Oligui Nguema, was elected in April last year, cementing his grip on power after he led a coup in August 2023 that ended more than half a century of rule by former president Ali Bongo and his family. 

The oil-producing nation is grappling with debt as it faces an acute liquidity squeeze that has left it increasingly reliant on regional capital markets.

The population of around 2.5 million across the heavily forested country is poor and highly dependent on food imports.

The World Bank has warned that despite the recent political transition and reform momentum, Gabon’s fiscal position remains fragile.

(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome. Writing by Ayen Deng Bior. Editing by Mark Potter)