Some Togolese protesters
heheheheh...........The
government in Togo has been accused of tampering with mobile internet
services in the West African sub-region in order to mitigate the effect
of an opposition protest.
Togo is the latest African nation to shut down access to the
internet after protests against President Faure Gnassingbé were
scheduled to take place this week.
Internet users and demonstrators in the West African country have
reported access to the internet had slowed down or been blocked by the
government. This was confirmed by Koffi Inoussa Ayibo, president of the
Togolese branch of Internet Without Borders, who said the NGO found
internet connectivity had been cut off on WhatsApp, Facebook, and,
later, all mobile internet services after conducing a series of tests.
On Twitter, some activists said they were headed to the Ghanaian
border to use the country’s internet and voice their criticism of
Gnassingbé, whose family has ruled the west African nation for 50 years.
Over the last three weeks, demonstrations have swept through Togo
as the opposition party, Le Parti National Panafricain (PNP), called for
the return of the 1992 constitution which guarantees multi-party
elections and a two-term limit for the head of state. The terms of the
constitution were changed by the president’s father, Eyadéma Gnassingbé,
to allow him to run for a third term in 2002, three years before his
death.
On Aug. 19, the minister of security said two people were killed
and 13 injured after security forces unleashed teargas and gunshots on a
group of demonstrators in Sokode, about three and a half hours outside
the capital Lomé. The Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), chaired by Gnassingbé, has yet to release a statement on the
protests.
In the last few years, African countries have used internet
shutdowns and curfews to stifle dissent and enforce law and order. One
of the big concerns is the use of social media tools to organize
anti-government protests.
Last year, as many as 11 African countries shut down internet
access ahead of elections and anti-government protests. In Gabon and the
Gambia, internet was shut down during and after elections while,
Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo closed off internet
access ahead of anti-government demonstrations.
This year, Cameroon imposed a 93-day internet blackout on the
country’s Anglophone regions which spoke out their marginalization by
the French-speaking government. The blackout lasted for 93 days, despite
international criticism.
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