Senegalese government restricts mobile internet access amid civil unrest

In a statement made available today, the Senegalese government has restricted access to mobile internet services in specific areas because of deadly rioting in which “hateful and subversive” messages have been posted online

Fir the past three days, there has been violent protests in the West African country which has claimed 16 lives to date, making it one of its deadliest bouts of civil unrest in decades

During the previous week, the government imposed restrictions on specific messaging platforms; however, numerous individuals managed to circumvent the service disruption by utilizing virtual private networks (VPNs) that conceal their location.

On Sunday, the government extended the outage, encompassing all data on mobile internet devices within specific areas and during specific time periods.

Though the government did not specify the areas impacted by the internet outage or at what times, residents across Dakar said they were unable to access the Internet without a wifi connection on Sunday afternoon, a time of day when protests have generally started to gather steam.

The sentencing of Ousmane Sonko, a well-known opposition leader, to a two-year jail term on Thursday, has served as the catalyst for the unrest. On Thursday, a criminal court in Dakar sentenced Ousmane Sonko on a charge of “corrupting young people”, while acquitting him of rape.

This verdict has raised concerns that Sonko may be disqualified from participating in the upcoming February presidential election.

In addition to their dissatisfaction with the sentencing of Ousmane Sonko, protesters have been infuriated by President Macky Sall’s refusal to exclude the possibility of seeking a third term, despite the established two-term limit for the presidency in Senegal.