Apagones de Internet

En medio de los disturbios civiles, hay informes de que las autoridades gubernamentales han prohibido el acceso a TikTok y Twitter/X. Ambos sitios parecían mostrar síntomas de bloqueo desde principios de febrero.

El lunes 27 de enero de 2025, fuentes locales informaron de que Internet se había quedado sin conexión en la región que rodea Goma, una importante ciudad del este de la República Democrática del Congo con más de un millón de habitantes. El apagón se produjo después de que los rebeldes del movimiento M23 dijeran que habían tomado el control de Goma tras un rápido avance contra el ejército congoleño.

The UN cited reports that the shutdown prevented electoral observers and witnesses in rural polling stations from communicating with local centres where results were being compiled, and made it difficult for the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to reach its field partners, including those offering protection to vulnerable civilians. Local media outlets had to temporarily relocate their staff to Brazzavile, the capital of neighboring Republic of Congo, and to Rwanda to be able to access the Internet and report without restrictions. The shutdown also encouraged  the smuggling of contraband mobile phone SIM cards, sold at an inflated price, from the Republic of Congo, whose network coverage extend to nearby areas across the border. Local consumer rights group, the Consumers Union of Congo, filed a complaint against mobile service providers Vodacom, Orange, Airtel and Africell over the shutdown to the Kinshasa Commercial Court. The group claims that operators unilaterally broke their service contract with their subscribers by cutting their access to the Internet.