TikTok is now unavailable in Senegal until further notice. According to Reuters, the country’s communications minister made this statement after receiving complaints from the opposition.
“It has been seen that people with bad intentions use the TikTok app more than any other social network to spread hateful and subversive messages that threaten the stability of the country,” a minister said in a statement. “This presents a threat to the stability of the country.”
The following day, in an effort to curb condemning postings made on social media, the government of Senegal cut off access to the internet. After opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was accused of preparing an uprising, a criminal plot, and other crimes, these regulations were put into place to ensure that justice was served.
The opposition in Senegal has held a number of rallies this year, some of which became violent, in response to allegations made by President Macky Sall against Sonko. Some say these allegations are an attempt to prevent Sonko from standing for reelection.
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Senegal’s social unrest keeps going on
Tensions broke out in Senegal two months ago as a result of Ousmane Sonko’s two-year sentence, in case you missed it. Nine people died during the protest, so the government put controls on social media.
Netblocks, an organisation that keeps an eye on the internet around the world, said that Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Telegram had been banned. Later, reports said that the rules didn’t just affect social media.
The Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy says it was made available to people who wanted to connect to the Internet. It wrote:
According to the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy, Internet access for mobile data users is temporarily prohibited during particular time slots owing to unpleasant and subversive comments made during public order incidents. It is necessary to have compliant phone operators. A comment was made by the Minister in a communiqué.
However, when the restriction was removed, the government once again blocked access to the internet throughout the country, citing the widespread dissemination of vile messages that were critical of the administration in power as the reason.
It is now unlawful for users to make broad use of the popular site for short films, and it does not appear that the ongoing political crisis and social upheaval will be resolved any time soon.