Published 31st Jul, 2023

By Joseph Adeiye

NetBlocks, a global internet monitor, has revealed that the Senegalese government cut off internet connectivity across the country on Monday.

The internet shutdown follows the arrest of Ousmane Sonko, a political opponent of Senegalese President Macky Sall, on Friday.

Sonko is a tax specialist who ran for president in Senegal’s 2019 election.

There have been numerous accusations against Sonko since his foray into politics in 2019. Sonko’s supporters claim that the accusations were politically motivated.

The Senegalese government had been met by protests within and without the country each time Sonko was arrested.

Sall’s regime shut down internet connectivity twice in June before Monday’s shutdown. Both instances followed Sonko’s arrest.

“Senegal has a history of using social media restrictions to control protests,” NetBlocks stated on Monday.

“In 2021, NetBlocks found that authorities limited access to social media and messaging apps, in addition to measures targeting traditional media. However, the new censorship measures are the most severe observed in the country to date.”

Nigeria previously employed similar tactics to ban citizens from using Twitter from June 5, 2021, to January 13, 2022. The federal government had reacted to the microblogging platform’s decision to temporarily suspend Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari over an offensive tweet.

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