Facebook and TikTok have been suspended in Gabon after the Central African nation’s media regulator ordered social media platforms offline, citing content that it said was stoking conflict and deepening divisions in society.
The High Authority for Communication (HAC) announced the immediate suspension of all social media platforms on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, with HAC spokesman Jean-Claude Mendome saying in a televised statement that inappropriate, defamatory, hateful and insulting content was undermining human dignity, public morality, the honour of citizens, social cohesion, the stability of institutions and national security.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks confirmed on Wednesday that access to Meta services, YouTube and TikTok was restricted in Gabon, though a Reuters witness reported that Facebook, Instagram and X remained accessible as of Wednesday afternoon. The HAC did not name the specific platforms targeted or set a date for when the restriction would be lifted.
The suspension comes as President Brice Oligui Nguema, who won the presidency last year after leading a military coup in 2023 that ended more than five decades of Bongo family rule, faces his first serious wave of social unrest. Teachers have been on strike since December over pay and working conditions, and protests have since spread to the health, higher education and broadcasting sectors.
Bloomberg reported the move follows growing government concern that online content is exacerbating tensions as protests over the high cost of living intensify across the country.
Despite framing the suspension as a protective measure, the HAC maintained that freedom of expression, including the right to comment and criticise, remained constitutionally protected in Gabon, drawing immediate scepticism from digital rights observers.
Digital rights groups, alongside organisations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), have warned that internet shutdowns carry significant consequences for expression, access to information and economic activity. Gabon had an estimated 850,000 active social media users in late 2025, roughly a third of the population, with platforms widely used for marketing and small business sales.
Gabon has a documented precedent of deploying digital blackouts during moments of political sensitivity, having restricted internet access during the 2023 election period by citing the need to counter calls for violence and misinformation.
