Gabon lifts eight-month social media ban — BBC News

Gabon has lifted a ban on access to social media that had been in place for eight months. The country’s High Authority of Communication (HAC) announced this in a televised statement on Saturday, BBC News reports.

The ban had been in place since February

The restrictions were introduced on February 17. At the time, the HAC said that online content was fuelling conflicts and deepening divisions in the country. The decision drew widespread criticism.

For Gabon, a Central African country with a population of about 2.5 million people, the blockade came as a surprise. Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are especially popular among young people, who use these platforms for business and leisure. After the restrictions were introduced, many users turned to VPNs to retain access to social media.

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Protests and opposition criticism

The ban was introduced amid social tensions less than a year after President Brice Oligui Nguema was elected. Teachers and civil servants were holding strikes, citing low pay and poor working conditions.

The opposition called the suspension of access to the platforms an abuse of power. Nguema won last year’s election with more than 90% of the vote, two years after a coup that ended more than five decades of rule by the Bongo family. At the time, he promised reforms in a country where previous governments had used digital shutdowns to control information.