Chad: Months-long social media outages continue /update 2

Event

Individuals in Chad remain unable to access various social media networks (Facebook, Viber, Whatsapp) as of Monday, July 16. The outages have been ongoing since the first week of April without any explanation from the authorities or telecommunication companies. Associations, individuals, and lawyers are denouncing the situation as a violation of the right to free expression and communication. While none have been announced as of yet, associated protests - with the potential to turn violent - may occur.

Context

Public access to social media networks has been cut at various periods of high sociopolitical tensions in the recent past in Chad, including during the presidential election in April 2016. 

Advice

Individuals present in Chad are advised to avoid all potential protests due to the possibility of violence.

On a separate note, due to the high terrorist threat, those in the country are advised to report any suspicious objects or behavior to the relevant authorities and to remain vigilant at all times, especially when visiting sites deemed particularly likely to be targeted in an attack (public transportation, train stations, airports, public or government buildings, embassies or consulates, international organizations, schools and universities, religious sites, markets, hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners/Westerners, festivals, etc.). For these and other security reasons, many Western governments advise against all travel to areas near the borders with Niger, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Nigeria, and the Lake Chad region, as well as nonessential travel to the rest of the country, including N'Djamena.