Senegal suspends Tik Tok app until further notice to curb “heinous and subversive” messages

Senegalese authorities on Wednesday August 2 blocked access to social media app TikTok over “heinous and subversive” messages following the arrest of political leader Ousman Sonko on Monday.
The ban on TikTok came days after the government suspended access to mobile phone data to prevent the circulation of subversive messages which could undermine public disorder. “It has been noted that the TikTok application is the social network preferred by ill-intentioned people to disseminate hateful and subversive messages threatening the stability of the country,” said Moussa Bocar Thiam, Minister of Communication and the Digital Economy, in a statement.
Political tension in Senegal became heated again after the arrest of Pastef party leader, seen by a chuck of the population as the main rival of President Macky Sall. Sonko was charged last Saturday with plotting an insurrection and other offences.
Three people were killed in the south of the country and in the suburbs of Dakar. Two other people were killed on Tuesday in the capital in an incendiary device attack on the bus they were traveling with. Authorities have not established a link between the bus attack and Sonko’s arrest but have branded the incident a terrorist attack.
Following his arrest, authorities dissolved the Pastef party. Sonko is facing 5 to 20 years in prison for the charges and will be disqualified to run for 2024 presidential elections if he is condemned.