Protests against plans by the current president of the DRC Joseph Kabila who intends to remain in power beyond the end of his mandate, thereby violating the country's constitution. This protest is due to take place on Monday 19 December 2016. The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo have asked telecommunications companies to block social media networks.
Some providers operating in the country including Vodacom, Orange and A, did not immediately comment on whether they would comply with the request, but an industry executive said that all companies had signed an agreement to respect orders to maintain national security. It is important to note that this is not the first time that the DRC intends to do this, as the government blocked social networks and the Internet during protests in January 2015, justifying the measure as necessary to avoid rumors that could fuel the violence. At the time, some human rights groups criticized the decision.
The request for blocking social media was made in a letter from the Telecommunications and Regulatory Authority of Congo (ARPTC), where it mentioned that the following social networks were blocked:
According to the request made, these services should be temporarily blocked. So if you are reading this article and live in the DRC, please know that by Monday, on the date mentioned above, these social networks will be airborne until the protests are over.
