Instagram, TikTok and 1xbet banned in Somalia- details inside

TikTok, Telegram, and 1XBet have all been made illegal by the Somalian government, which says this is done to stop indecent activities and the spread of extremist propaganda. The authorities ordered internet service providers (ISPs) operating in the nation to block access to the aforementioned sites in a public statement on X (formerly known as Twitter).

ISPs have until Thursday, August 24, to implement the restriction, according to a statement issued by Jama Hassan Khalif, Somalia’s Minister of Communications and Technology. The statement warned that failure to comply would result in legal action.

As previously stated, the goal of this order is to stop the spread of offensive information and extremist propaganda on TikTok and Telegram, respectively. Due to Somalia’s strong religious heritage, it is clear why the government wants to put a stop to the spread of immoral content on TikTok.

In relation to the Telegram ban, it’s important to keep in mind that the nation of East Africa is engaged in a bloody conflict with the terrorist organisation Al-Shabab, which is supported by Al-Qaeda. According to the government’s statement, the terror organization frequently utilized Telegram to distribute its videos, press releases, and audio conversations with its commanders. The Somalian administration wants to gain the upper hand in the protracted war by limiting access to Telegram.

Anyone can claim that the prohibition on 1XBet is due to Somalia’s present prohibition on gambling. Casinos, lotteries, and sports betting are all considered forms of gambling under Sharia law.

Internet and social media censorship is becoming more common in Africa, and Somalia is an example of this.

For a variety of reasons, several African governments have at one time or another restricted access to social media. In Senegal, the administration said that the move was made to stop PASTEF (Patriotes Africains du Sénégal Pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité), an opposition party, from disseminating false information.

The governments of the aforementioned nations, like Somalia, have come under harsh criticism for these choices. It’s important to note that the UN views access to social media as a human right. And even while the choice to limit access to social media may have been well-intentioned, it has a lot of negative consequences.

The economic factor is one of them. Because social media has such a large user base and so many prospective clients, many businesses use it. Every time there is a disruption, businesses lose money, and the economy also suffers. Take Nigeria, where the loss from the Twitter outage was 546.5 billion dollars.

Guinea’s internet shutdown order was issued to prevent an anti-government rally, thus there was a political component to it as well. Following a jailbreak incident, the Mauritanian government cut off internet connection on March 6.

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Samson Ayodeji

I am literally obsessed with technology. I love writing about the latest news in technology in different markets, segments and sectors across the world.

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