Internet and social networks shutdown in the DRC
Access to the internet and social networks was shutdown “on government instructions” in the Democratic Republic of Congo Monday after the general elections.
Opposition candidate Martin Fayulu’s campaign team accused the authorities of shutting down the internet to avoid broadcasting a “wave” of minutes “that confirm the candidate’s overwhelming victory”.
“Dear customer, at the instruction of the government, our Internet services are suspended for an indefinite period,”said the Global Provider in an SMS.
“It is the government that disconnected it,” said a representative of the mobile phone operator Vodacom. According to AFP reporter, who was surprised by problems of Internet access in Kinshasa. Access to data on Airtel and Vodacom networks is shutdown in Goma and Beni, in North Kivu (East), 2,000 km from the capital.
Access to the Whatsapp network is also impossible in Lubumbashi (south) on Vodacom. Vodacom and Airtel are the main mobile networks in the DRC with Frenchman Orange.
“I’m sorry to learn just before entering the room that we cut the Internet,” the secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference (Cenco) told the press, reporting on the results of the electoral observation mission of the Catholic Church.
The cut comes as polling station results were posted on Twitter.
