Facebook, TikTok suspended in Gabon under regulator’s order

Gabonese authorities impose indefinite social media blackout, citing risks to social cohesion and national stability.

Facebook 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.

Gabon’s media regulator on Tuesday announced the suspensions, citing the risk of “conflict-inducing excesses”. It did not specify any social media platforms included in the ban.

The decision came amid a wave of social unrest with teachers on strike and other civil servants threatening to walk off their jobs, less than a year after President Brice Oligui Nguema was elected.

Teachers began striking over pay and conditions in December, and protests for similar demands have since spread to other public sectors, including health, higher education and broadcasting.