Mobile internet access has been suspended in Senegal for the second time in February 2024.
This is coming after authorities prohibited a march against the delay of the country’s presidential election to December 15.
President Macky Sall’s decision sparked a crisis, leading to clashes between protesters and security forces, resulting in three fatalities and others injured.
The Ministry of Communication attributed the suspension to the dissemination of subversive hate messages on social networks.
“Due to the dissemination on social networks of several subversive hate messages that have already provoked violent demonstrations… mobile data is suspended this Tuesday 13 February,” the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Energy said in a statement.
This move followed a previous restriction on mobile data access just eight days earlier when the parliament supported President Sall’s decision. Access was restored on Wednesday, February 7.
The suspension has drawn criticism from rights activists and international partners, with both the United States and the European Union expressing concern.
This isn’t the first time Senegal has employed such measures.
In June 2023, amid heightened tensions in the country, a similar move to cut mobile internet was implemented.
This pattern suggests a recurring strategy to control mobilization and communication on social networks during times of unrest.
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