Gabon Suspends Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp Amid Teachers' Strike and Growing Civil Unrest

When a government that came to power by overthrowing its predecessor begins silencing the platforms its citizens use to organize, the trajectory is familiar — and rarely ends where the authorities promise it will.

Gabon's High Authority for Communication (HAC) on Tuesday ordered the immediate suspension of social media platforms across the country "until further notice," a sweeping measure that by Wednesday had knocked Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram offline for the central African nation's roughly 2.4 million people Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. The regulator accused social media users of publishing content that "stokes conflict and divisions in society," framing the shutdown as a defense of national security rather than what critics call it: an attempt to choke off dissent.

The suspension arrives at a politically sensitive moment for President Brice Oligui Nguema, who is confronting the first significant challenge to his authority since winning election in April 2025 . Teachers began striking in December over pay and working conditions, and the movement has since metastasized into a broader wave of civil service unrest encompassing health workers, university staff, and broadcasting employees Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. The timing of the social media ban — coming not at the start of the unrest but weeks into an escalating crisis — suggests a government that initially hoped the protests would burn themselves out and is now reaching for blunter instruments.

HAC spokesman Jean-Claude Mendome delivered the regulator's rationale in a televised statement that read like a catalog of authoritarian justifications worldwide. He cited "inappropriate, defamatory, hateful, and insulting content" that was undermining "human dignity, public morality, the honour of citizens, social cohesion, the stability of the Republic's institutions, and national security" Gabon suspends access to social media amid teachers' strikefrance24.com·SecondaryTo display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. In tonight's edition, Gabon suspends major social media platforms, including Facebook and TikTok, amid an anti-government teachers’ strike. Also, Brent Bozell, Trump’s controversial pick for US ambassador, arrives in South Africa.. He also pointed to the "spread of false information," "cyberbullying," and "unauthorised disclosure of personal data" — a kitchen-sink approach to justification that digital rights organizations have identified as a hallmark of politically motivated internet shutdowns across the continent.

Mendome was careful to assert that freedom of expression remained "a fundamental right enshrined in Gabon," even as his agency was actively dismantling one of the primary means through which Gabonese citizens exercise it . The contradiction did not go unnoticed. Opposition leader Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, a former prime minister and head of the "Together for Gabon" party, called the crackdown "incomprehensible" and a "disproportionate abuse" of power that violated the constitution Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. In an overnight Facebook post — made before the platforms went dark — he urged civil society groups "and all Gabonese people dedicated to freedom to mobilise and block this liberty-destroying excess" Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not..

Connectivity monitor NetBlocks confirmed on Wednesday that multiple platforms were restricted across the country, lending independent verification to reports from AFP journalists on the ground Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. The Gabon presidency's spokesman, Théophane Zame-Nze Biyoghe, sought to downplay the measure in an interview, calling it "a suspension, not a permanent ban" and describing it as "the continuation of several months of deliberation, necessary to initiate the debate and send a strong signal" Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. The framing — that shutting down platforms used by millions constitutes "initiating debate" — captured the Orwellian quality of the government's messaging.

The economic fallout was immediate and tangible. Lessa Juste, a computer scientist interviewed by AFP, noted that "the economy is also taking a hit" because the shutdown was disrupting commercial activity that depends on social media connectivity Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. Content creator Mister Wils, who commands nearly 100,000 TikTok followers, put it more bluntly: "I can't even work anymore" Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. In a country where digital infrastructure is already limited and social media platforms serve as de facto commercial marketplaces, the suspension amounts to an economic sanction against the government's own population.

The roots of the current crisis run deeper than a pay dispute. A wage freeze imposed by the government of former president Ali Bongo Ondimba — whose family ruled Gabon for 55 years before being deposed in the August 2023 military coup — has left teachers struggling with a rising cost of living that the post-coup government has done little to address . Oligui, who led the coup against Bongo, initially acted on some of the teachers' concerns during the two-year transition period, effectively buying quiet ahead of his April 2025 presidential election victory Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. But with the transition over and the new president installed with a large majority, teachers and other civil servants found that campaign-era promises had not translated into substantive improvements.

The government's approach to the protests has gone beyond digital censorship. Authorities last month arrested two prominent figures from the teachers' protest movement, a move that teachers and parents say has created a "climate of fear" that discourages public discussion of the strike Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s orderaljazeera.com·SecondaryFacebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon “until further notice” after the Central African nation’s media regulator accused social media platforms of publishing content that stokes conflict and divisions in society. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that the two social media platforms were no longer available in Gabon. It wasn’t immediately clear if other platforms were still operating or not.. The combination of arrests and a social media blackout represents a significant escalation in the government's response — and a worrying signal about the direction of governance in post-coup Gabon.

The pattern is not unique to Gabon. Across West and Central Africa, governments that came to power promising reform have repeatedly turned to internet shutdowns when confronted with organized dissent. Mali's military junta suspended French broadcasters LCI and TF1 in November, accusing them of spreading false reports Gabon suspends access to social media amid teachers' strikefrance24.com·SecondaryTo display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. In tonight's edition, Gabon suspends major social media platforms, including Facebook and TikTok, amid an anti-government teachers’ strike. Also, Brent Bozell, Trump’s controversial pick for US ambassador, arrives in South Africa.. Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad have all implemented social media restrictions during periods of political tension in recent years. The playbook is consistent: cite national security, blame foreign interference or misinformation, promise the measure is temporary, and hope that cutting off communication channels fractures the opposition's ability to coordinate.

What makes Gabon's case particularly instructive is the speed of the transition from democratic hope to authoritarian reflex. Oligui Nguema's election was supposed to mark the end of the post-coup transition and the beginning of a genuinely democratic chapter. Less than a year into his elected presidency, his government is deploying the same censorship tools that characterized the Bongo era — and in some respects going further, since Bongo never implemented a blanket social media suspension even during the most contentious moments of his rule.

The question now is whether the shutdown will achieve its intended purpose of dampening the protests, or whether — as has happened in numerous countries from Sudan to Myanmar — removing digital communication channels will push discontent into the streets in forms that are harder for the government to monitor and manage. For Gabon's teachers, who have been striking for nearly three months with little to show for it, the message from their government is clear: your grievances are less important than the regime's desire to control the narrative.