Senegal restricts internet access

The action is necessary to stop the spread of “hateful messages” on social media following an opposition figure’s arrest, the Communications Ministry has said

The government of Senegal has temporarily shut down internet access from Monday, citing threats to public order, following a similar steps last month due to deadly opposition protests in the country.

The decision comes after the arrest on Friday of leading opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, who is facing seven charges, including plotting an insurrection and criminal conspiracy. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on Monday, according to local media.

Supporters of the PASTEF party, which Sonko will represent as a candidate in the February 2024 presidential elections, are outraged that his conviction could prevent him from running.

Violence erupted in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, and elsewhere in the country last month after Sonko, 49, was sentenced to two years in prison on a separate charge of “corrupting the youth.” Despite the sentence, however, Sonko had not yet been transferred to jail.

Nine people were killed in the ensuing unrest, prompting authorities to impose a blanket ban on the use of several social media platforms.

Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome announced at the time that sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter had been suspended because demonstrators were using them to incite violence.

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Full access to mobile internet across the country was restored after a two-day blackout.

In a statement on Monday, Senegal's Communications Ministry explained that the move is in response to the “dissemination of hateful and subversive messages relayed on social networks.”

Communications Minister Moussa Bocar Thiam directed mobile network operators on Monday to comply with the orders.