The
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may have concluded plans to block social
networking websites including Facebook and Twitter, and WhatsApp, before
President Joseph Kabila's mandate expires on Sunday’s midnight, reports
ITRealms.
The
government order to this effect as gathered by ITRealms, was sent to at least
three internet service providers (ISPs) and sighted by correspondent Thursday, indicated that
this order will probably hamper the organisation of public protests against
Kabila.
According
to AFP News Agency, the letter from Congo's Posts and Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority (ARPTC) requested the "temporary blocking of sharing
of images, video and voice [data] over the network" from 11:59pm local
time (2259GMT) on Sunday.”
ARPTC,
however, did not give its reason for the orders, just as the list of platforms
to be blocked was very lengthy, including Skype.
"In
cases where partial blocking is not possible, you are required to block access
to the relevant social networks entirely," the regulator said.
Text
messages will continue to function as normal.
The
government's plan was first raised on Tuesday at a meeting of the ARPTC.
"The
ARPTC verbally instructed us during the meeting to filter connections on social
networks," one internet company executive said, before adding the
"trials are likely to be carried out overnight Thursday and Friday".
"We
will comply with what has been demanded. It's part of our [legal] obligations,"
said a manager at one of the affected ISPs.
ITRealms recalls that President Kabila's second term in office would end on Monday, December 19, 2016.
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