Eight months of digital silence have come to an end in Gabon. The High Communication Authority (HAC) made it official on Saturday, October 24, 2026: the suspension of social media is fully lifted across the country. Meeting in an extraordinary plenary session chaired by Germain Ngoyo Moussavou, the regulator approved the return of access to the major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and WhatsApp. The announcement was read on television by its spokesman, Jean-Claude Franck Mendome.
The blackout dated back to February 17. At the time, the regulator accused online content of fuelling conflict and division in society. The timing was sensitive for the government: President Brice Oligui Nguema was facing a wave of social unrest less than a year after his election, with teachers and civil servants on strike over pay and working conditions.
The page may be turning, but the landscape has shifted. The HAC statement points to three ordinances issued on February 26, one governing social media use and two others amending the Communication Code and the regulator’s own organisation. Above all, the authority highlights the promulgation on October 5 of the law ratifying the ordinance on social media use. Another major change: authorities now require users to provide formal identification, which effectively ends online anonymity.
The HAC makes no secret of how it spent the suspension period: building ties with the tech giants. The regulator says it has set up operational exchange protocols with TikTok, Meta and YouTube, giving it direct access to priority reporting tools and the ability to have illegal content taken down in real time. TikTok and Meta delegations may also travel to Libreville to take this cooperation further. In the same breath, the authority urged users to show greater responsibility and maturity.
Throughout the ban, many Gabonese did not wait for official approval to stay connected. VPN provider Proton recorded a 60,000% jump in downloads the day after the blackout took effect. Workarounds did not spare the economy, however. Small businesses selling online, local media and content creators suffered heavy financial losses. Communication, commercial promotion and even some exchanges between pupils and students were also disrupted.
Politically, the decision does not silence every critic. The opposition had denounced the ban as an abuse of power, and it was challenged several times in court, without success. The symbolism weighs heavily on a leader who, after ending more than five decades of Bongo family rule through a coup, had pledged to reform a country where previous governments used digital blackouts to control information.
One practical question remains open. The statement sets neither a precise time nor a technical timetable for access to actually return. The coming days will show whether normal service resumes on every platform, and above all how the new identification rules will be enforced in everyday use.
