According to data gathered by the digital advocacy group, NetBlocks on the 21st of December, The Sudanese government is attempting to block social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram on mobile networks.
The internet had earlier been blocked on major telecom companies like MTN Sudan, Zain Sudan, Kanartel, and Sudatel. This comes with the crisis of protesters in major cities demonstrating against rising bread prices, rising inflation and fuel scarcity in their economy.
According to Quartz Africa, the Sudanese government is doing this to subdue increasing protests all over the country after introducing a state of emergency. This action is assumed to cost the economy over $7.5 million per day, says NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool (COST).
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Meanwhile, Digital rights advocates have condemned this act as it is against the basic human right to access and share vital information on the cyberspace.
“The Sudanese authorities seem to have decided to curb access to social media to contain the crisis and restrict the information available about what’s going on in the country,” Melody Patry, the advocacy director with digital rights group Access Now said.
He continued “This attempt of censorship and information control must stop.”
To halt the appalling economic and political state in the North-East Africa nation, all that the protesters are demanding for is simple. They are insisting on the resignation of the president, Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled the nation for almost 30 years.
Nationwide Internet shutdown is not a new thing in Sudan. In 2013, the country’s capital – Khartoum internet was interrupted amid related revolutionary protests.