Reporters Without Boundaries (RSF) has called to the reversal of the order blocking social media in South Sudan, arguing it was not approved by the Council of Ministers.
In a post on X on Friday, RSF said it was alarmed that the National Communication Authority blocked access to social media for 90 days due to widespread protests, saying the move blocks the population’s access to information.
“It must be reversed,” RSF said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday also urged South Sudanese authorities to reverse its social media ban and to ensure the public has open and reliable internet access, which is essential for news gathering amid unrest in the country.
“Blocking social media access is a blanket act of censorship and a disproportionate response to unrest that makes it difficult for journalists to do their jobs and robs the public of the diverse sources of news,” CPJ Africa program coordinator, Muthoki Mumo, said.“South Sudanese authorities should immediately lift this social media suspension.”
On January 22, South Sudan’s telecommunications regulator, the National Communication Authority, directed all internet service providers to “block access to all social media accounts” for a “minimum of 30 days” and a “maximum of 90 days,” according to a copy of the authority’s letter.
The Authority said it issued its suspension orders to stop the social media spread of footage showing the killings of South Sudanese nationals in neighbouring Sudan, which triggered violent protests in South Sudan, including “revenge” killings of Sudanese nationals. Authorities in Juba on January 17 imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in response to the unrest.
On the evening of January 22, at least two telecom providers – Zain South Sudan and MTN South Sudan – published notices on Facebook warning users that TikTok and Facebook would no longer be accessible. In the afternoon of January 23, CPJ spoke to two South Sudanese journalists and two South Sudanese human rights defenders who said that Facebook and TikTok were inaccessible without the use of a virtual private network (VPN), a encryption tool that can bypass censorship.
