Gabon’s media regulator has ordered the suspension of social media platforms across the country until further notice, citing a surge in online content it says is inflaming tensions and undermining public institutions.

The High Authority for Communication announced that platforms would be blocked after what it described as an escalation of “defamatory, hateful and insulting content” circulating online. According to a spokesperson, officials are particularly concerned about the spread of false information, cyberbullying and the unauthorised disclosure of personal data, which they argue are fuelling social divisions and threatening what they call the country’s democratic progress.

The regulator did not specify which platforms are covered by the suspension, leaving users and service providers to interpret the scope of the measure. In practice, residents reported widespread disruption to major social networks and messaging services, with many people struggling to access tools that have become central to political debate, business and daily communication.

In its statement, the High Authority for Communication insisted that freedom of expression, including the right to comment and criticise, remains a fundamental right in Gabon. It framed the suspension as a temporary security measure aimed at restoring calm and protecting citizens from online abuses, rather than a permanent rollback of civil liberties.

The move comes as President Brice Oligui Nguema confronts his most serious domestic challenge since assuming power. A wave of labour unrest has swept the public sector, beginning with a teachers’ strike over pay and working conditions and spreading to health workers, university staff and employees in the state broadcasting sector. Demonstrations and work stoppages have highlighted long-standing grievances over salaries, job security and the cost of living.

Authorities appear increasingly wary of the role social media plays in amplifying those grievances, coordinating protests and circulating criticism of the transitional government. Rights advocates and opposition voices, however, warn that cutting access to online platforms risks silencing legitimate dissent and isolating Gabonese citizens from independent sources of information.

For now, the suspension underscores the delicate balance the authorities claim to seek between maintaining public order and upholding basic freedoms, at a moment when social and political pressures are mounting across the country.