AFP — South Sudan on Wednesday ordered internet providers to block social media platforms, including Facebook and TikTok, following violent protests over the deaths of its citizens last week.
Demonstrations erupted in the capital Juba last week over reports that clashes in neighbouring Sudan had killed 29 South Sudanese but turned violent with people looting Sudanese-owned businesses.
Anger spread across the impoverished nation, with officers opening fire to disperse crowds and later detaining hundreds of looters.
In a letter addressed to the country’s internet providers, the National Communication Authority’s (NCA) director general ordered them “to block access to all social media accounts effective from midnight (00:00Hrs) of 22 January, 2025, for a maximum of (90) days.”
The move was later confirmed by at least three telecommunication firms operating in South Sudan, although as of late Wednesday AFP reporters were still able to access Facebook in the country.
The NCA director general Napoleon Adok Gai said decision came after the “recent upheaval in Sudan, that has exposed the South Sudanese population to unprecedented levels of extreme violence through social media press”.
He added citizens in Sudan “were subjected to violent attacks resulting in the deaths of Women and Children, subsequently captured in videos and shared on social media without any regard.”
“We formally request the blockage of these social media sites for a minimum of 30 days,” he said, adding that the directive could be lifted “as soon as the situation is contained.”
He added that the “contents depicted violate our local laws and pose a significant threat to public safety and mental health”.
One of the country’s largest telecommunications firms MTN South Sudan said Facebook, TikTok and “their related messaging applications have been suspended for a maximum period of 90 days.”
“As a result, MTN South Sudan customers will not be able to access the aforementioned services via the MTN network,” it said in a statement shared widely online.
Zain and Digitel telecommunication firms sent out similarly worded statements, saying the popular social media platforms “have been suspended”.
Days prior to the move the government declared a nighttime curfew, with President Salva Kiir urging restraint.
Although the situation appeared to have calmed over the weekend, the curfew officially remained in place.
South Sudan broke away from its northern neighbour in 2011, but the impoverished nation has been bedevilled by economic and political instability since.
Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese fled to Sudan, but the civil war that broke out there in 2023 has seen many travel back over the border.
Most of the million people who have fled Sudan’s war over the southern border have been South Sudanese returning to their home country, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
