Guinea Cuts Internet Access and Blocks Social Media on Referendum Day

As millions of Guineans went to the polls to vote in a referendum on constitutional reforms as well as legislative elections, authorities first cut access to the internet and later blocked social media, then imposed another cut. This was a critical moment for the people of Guinea to determine whether President Alpha Condé would stand a third term as president.

Reports show there was an initial three-hour internet outage on the evening of March 21, 2020, followed by a social media blackout, and then a complete internet shutdown throughout the voting period on March 22, 2020, without an official government explanation for the shutdown.

As we have noted, internet shutdowns like this are extremely dangerous during the COVID-19 outbreak, and they also cast a shadow that can obscure human rights abuses. In this case, there are reports of numerous human rights violations perpetrated on election day, during the communications blackout. According to the Media Foundation for West Africa, 10 people were reportedly killed and numerous journalists were harassed. Since the proposed constitutional reform was tabled in late 2019, there have been a series of protests with numerous reported fatalities.

The shutdown during voting may not have not come as a surprise to many critics of the referendum in Guinea, but it has clearly tainted the referendum process and placed Guinea on the list of countries that are infamous for using internet shutdowns to control the flow of information online and gag the citizenry during important national events.