Gabon Lifts Eight-Month Ban on Social Media Platforms

Gabon has restored access to social media platforms after an eight-month suspension that attracted widespread criticism from opposition figures and rights advocates.

The country’s High Communication Authority (HAC) announced the decision on Saturday, lifting restrictions imposed on February 17 over concerns that online content was fuelling conflict and division.

HAC spokesman Jean-Claude Franck Mendome disclosed the development in a statement read on television.

The suspension affected major platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, while access to WhatsApp was intermittent. Some users bypassed the restrictions through virtual private networks (VPNs).

The regulator said the ban was intended to give the government time to adapt its legal framework to better regulate social media.

Under the new measures, social media users are required to provide formal identification, a move critics say effectively ends online anonymity.

The HAC also disclosed that it was working with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok and YouTube, to improve content moderation.

The ban was introduced amid growing social unrest under President Brice Oligui Nguema, who came to power following a 2023 military coup that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo family. He was elected president in April 2025.

Gabon’s opposition condemned the restrictions as an abuse of power, while several legal challenges against the ban were unsuccessful.

Critics have also cited the arrest of former Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, who has been detained since April over allegations of abuse of trust and fraud dating back to 2008, as evidence of a worsening political climate.

The restrictions and other government actions have raised concerns about democratic freedoms in the country, despite initial hopes that the end of the Bongo family’s rule would usher in political reforms.