The African continent continues to live up to its reputation of infringing on the freedom of expression social media – and the internet in general – provides to its citizens. Since 2015, scores of countries have either blocked or restricted access to social networks during protests, uprisings, or elections.
In this year alone, over 4 African countries have censored social media, resulting in fierce criticism from both the local and international community. In this article, we’ll explain how governments block social networks like Facebook and Twitter and what you can do to access them in such situations:
What African Countries Have Restricted or Shutdown Social Networks in 2021?
Here are some countries that have blocked completely or partially blocked social media:
Zambia
Messaging and social media services were restricted on election day, leaving Zambians unable to access them on multiple internet providers. That’s not all, the government also threatened to cut off the internet if citizens didn’t use it “correctly” during the election.
Chad
Social media and messaging apps like Telegram, Facebook, and YouTube were disrupted on March 5 following the arrest of Ousamne Sonko. The 46-year-old leader was at the forefront of the anti-government protests held in Dakar, the country’s capital.
Nigeria
Twitter was indefinitely banned by the government in June after the micro-blogging platform deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet for violating its guidelines. According to estimates, the country is losing a whopping $250,000 every hour as a result of the ban.
Uganda
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) restricted access to social media services two days before the general election on January 14. A complete internet blackout was enforced on the election’s eve, making Uganda the first country to censor the internet this year.
How Do African Governments Block Social Networks?
Governments don’t have the ability to block access to certain sites or services and order the companies who hold that power, which in this case are the internet service providers and cellular operators. They can use a number of methods to fulfill the government’s instructions.
For example, IP blocking is one of the most commonly used techniques to stop access to legitimate services and sites. Another is bandwidth throttling, which involves slowing down users’ internet traffic in order to discourage access.
Is There Any Way to Bypass This Censorship?
Luckily, yes. If internet access isn’t shut down completely in your country, there are a number of tools available to circumvent these hurdles. We’ve discussed them below:
- VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) lets you change your IP address to a country without censorship and secures all your traffic using bank-grade encryption. The result? You can access the internet restriction-free and nobody (including your ISP) will be able to tell what you’re up to online.
- Proxy
A proxy functions in the same way as a VPN but without any encryption capabilities. While you can use it to get around censorship, security-wise it isn’t the safest option as you and your data can be exposed to surveillance. In some countries like China, you could even face legal consequences.
- Tor
The Tor browser is another way to access sites censored in your country. Simply downloading the browser and navigating to a blocked site will grant access, but at a much slower speed because it routes your requests via multiple servers.
Final Word
Social media restrictions and shutdowns are becoming more and more common in the African continent with every passing year. In situations such as these, Africans can regain access to sites and services using tools like VPNs and the Tor browser.
