LIBREVILLE - Gabon has lifted its ban on social media, imposed eight months ago in a move that triggered widespread criticism at the time, the BBC reported. The High Communication Authority (HAC) announced the U-turn on Saturday (October 24) in a televised statement; the BBC said it had approached the country's media regulator for comment.

Source: BBC via The Geneva Times, Oct 25

"The HAC has decided to lift the suspension of social media platforms," spokesman Jean-Claude Franck Mendome said in a statement read on television, News Central TV reported. The decision was formalised after an extraordinary plenary session chaired by Germain Ngoyo Moussavou, Benin Web TV reported.

Source: News Central TV, Oct 25 / Benin Web TV, Oct 24

Feb 17Date the HAC blocked Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, saying online content was fuelling conflict and division
~2.5 millionGabon's population; the blocked platforms are especially popular with younger Gabonese who use them for business as well as social life
60,000%Surge in downloads of Proton's VPN tool the day after the ban took effect, as users sought workarounds, according to reports of the ban period
>90%President Brice Oligui Nguema's share of the vote in last year's election, held two years after his coup ended more than five decades of Bongo family rule

The ban was imposed on February 17, with the HAC saying content posted online was fuelling conflict and deepening divisions in society, and it came as President Brice Oligui Nguema faced a wave of social unrest - teachers and civil servants striking over low pay and poor working conditions - less than a year after his election, the BBC reported. Facebook and TikTok, the most-used platforms in the country, were shut down along with YouTube and Instagram, while WhatsApp access was intermittent; many users kept reaching the platforms through virtual private networks (VPNs).

Source: BBC via The Geneva Times, Oct 25

Access returns - with identification and moderation conditions

The HAC said the suspension was intended to give the government time to revise its legal framework for regulating social media, the Lower Eastern Times reported. Under the new requirements, social media users must provide formal identification, a measure that effectively ends online anonymity on the platforms covered. The regulator said exchange protocols with TikTok, Meta and YouTube are now operational, giving it reporting tools for content deemed illegal, and that delegations from TikTok and Meta are expected in Libreville, Benin Web TV reported.

Source: Lower Eastern Times, Oct 25 / Benin Web TV, Oct 24

Gabon's opposition leaders strongly criticised the suspension as an abuse of power, and several legal challenges were filed against the restrictions - all of them rejected, the reports said. Nguema won last year's election with more than 90% of the vote, two years after the coup that ended more than five decades of rule by the Bongo family, and had pledged to reform the small, oil- and timber-rich country, where previous governments had used digital blackouts to control information, the BBC reported.

Source: BBC via The Geneva Times, Oct 25