The Senegalese government on Wednesday, stopped access to the social media app TikTok.
This comes as the government tightened its crackdown on dissent days after dissolving the main opposition party and imprisoning its head.
“The TikTok application is the social network favoured by people with bad intentions to spread hateful and subversive messages,” Senegalese government official said in a statement on Wednesday.
Senegal’s standing as the most stable democracy in West Africa has been tarnished by a power struggle between President Macky Sall and Pastef party leader Ousmane Sonko. The most recent violent rally occurred on Monday.
On Monday, Senegal dissolved Pastef and banned access to internet services, claiming dangers to the nation’s stability. Similar justification was cited by its minister of communications to ban TikTok.
Sonko was arrested and accused with insurrection planning and other charges on Saturday.
Supporters of the opposition, who have demonstrated throughout the year, accuse Sall of making accusations in an effort to bar Sonko from running for president in 2024.
At least 16 people were killed in riots that erupted across the nation in June after Sonko was given a two-year prison term for acting immorally towards people under the age of 21. He hasn’t yet begun his term of service.
Sall put an end to much uncertainty a month ago when he declared he would not run for president a third time in 2018, which opponents had claimed would be against the law. His party has not yet announced its top choice for the position.
