Gabon lifts eight-month ban on major social media platforms

Gabon’s media regulator, the Haute Autorité de la communication, confirmed that access to Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram has been reinstated following an eight-month shutdown. The original restriction was imposed to curb content deemed harmful to the Republic’s institutions and national security, and to give the government time to adjust legal tools for overseeing online activity. Throughout the ban, many users evaded the block through virtual private networks, and WhatsApp continued to operate in a limited capacity.

The regulator highlighted that the decision coincides with efforts to formalize user identification and end online anonymity. It also praised recent collaborative arrangements with TikTok, Meta and YouTube aimed at enhancing content moderation on these services. The reversal comes amid a politically tense environment and opposition criticism of the earlier suspension.