Senegal’s government continued to impose curfew-like closures on internet access, effectively blocking it from 1pm to 2am across the country in a bid to stifle dissent over the trial of opposition figure Ousmane Sonko.
Sonko, a politician widely revered among the country’s youth, was convicted on Thursday of charges related to bribing youth and was sentenced to two years in prison. He was planning to face President Macky Sall in next year’s election before being hit with a series of allegations that his supporters believe are politically motivated.
Since the sentencing was announced, more than 500 people have been arrested for participating in protests. Interior Minister Antoine Felix Abdoulaye Diome told a news conference that the government was restricting internet access to prevent the spread of fake news on social media and messaging apps.
Several organizations and companies monitoring internet access globally confirmed to Recorded Future News that mobile internet has been intentionally restricted in the country at specific times.
Both NetBlocks and Cloudflare have collected data illustrating internet cuts. The arm of Amnesty International in Senegal, alongside the Human Rights Foundationhe criticized the closures.
Image: NetBlocks
We condemn the restrictions on access to social networks and the cutting of the private television signal Walf TV These restrictions are arbitrary measures contrary to international law and cannot be justified by security imperatives, Amnesty International said on Twitter.
Several social media sites were blocked last week, but citizens have been able to bypass the closure using virtual private networks. Broader internet outages began to expand over the weekend.
The Foundation for Human Rights noticed that one of the victims of the violence was 26-year-old Elhaji Ciss, who had shared information online and offline about security personnel firing live ammunition at protesters.
Ciss also had tweeted to Elon Musk asking if his Starlink service could be used to give the Senegalese people access to the internet.
The Senegalese government has blocked access to the internet for the Senegalese people. This is a violation of human rights and an attempt to silence dissent. We urge you to use Starlink to provide internet access to the Senegalese people, Ciss said before him killed by the security forces on Saturday.
Image: Cloudflare
Daily closures
Cloudflare’s head of data analytics David Belson told Recorded Future News that they have thus far monitored three daily internet outages that are happening at Free/Tigo, a mobile operator within the country, as well as on Sudatel Senegal.
Free/Tigo happens to be the largest mobile network in the country, so focusing on them makes sense. However, they account for significantly less traffic than Sonatel, which doesn’t appear to be targeted by the closures, possibly because they are largely a landline provider and likely provide connectivity to corporate and government customers, he said.
Senegal was also extensively blocking a number of social media and messaging platforms before they started implementing these closures. It’s unclear whether the shutdowns were implemented because users were finding ways around the block, or were implemented simply to further suppress communication.
Free published a statement on Tuesday saying mobile internet would be available again after authorities told him mobile data restrictions would be lifted. The company did not respond to requests for comment on how much time would remain available.
NetBlocks director Alp Toker said curfew-style internet shutdowns have appeared in various contexts around the world, most commonly during social unrest such as Iraq in 2019 and Myanmar in 2021.
Curiously, to date we have never seen it practiced on a large scale in African countries, where unlimited and undisclosed total network blackouts or social media throttling are the norm, he said.
Additionally, Senegal’s situation is unique in that the government is cutting off connectivity during normal business hours, Belson said.
Jonathan Greig
Jonathan Greig is a breaking news reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked around the world as a journalist since 2014. Before returning to New York City, he worked for news organizations in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously held cyber security positions at ZDNet and TechRepublic.
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