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Togo restricted internet during June protests [1]
['Jean Sovon']
Date: 2025-07-16
In Africa, periods of unrest and protests are often fraught with internet restrictions and shutdowns, like those Togo experienced in June.
Since the enactment of the new Constitution of the Fifth Republic on May 6, 2024, and Faure Gnassingbé's inauguration as President of the Council on May 3, 2025, the Togolese population has become increasingly indignant. After all, the Gnassingbé family has ruled this country politically for almost 60 years.
Under these circumstances, the internet was fundamental in mobilizing the Togolese people in June 2025.
On TikTok, thousands of Togolese citizens held discussions and debates, voicing their opinions and refining their plans to liberate the country and force out Faure Gnassingbé, who has been in power since 2005. In this video that pan-African news outlet LSI Africa shared on X (formerly Twitter), Zaga Bambo, the Togolese artist and activist, explains:
🚨🇹🇬 #TOGO : à la veille de nouvelles manifestations prévues les 26, 27 et 28 juin, l’artiste et militant Zaga Bambo se dresse en figure de proue de la contestation contre le pouvoir togolais. Dans un entretien exclusif accordé à LSI AFRICA, celui que beaucoup considèrent comme le porte-voix d’une jeunesse en colère, veut défier le régime de Faure Gnassingbé : « Nous allons continuer ce combat jusqu’à ce que Faure quitte le pouvoir » a-t-il martelé. Il affirme que « plus aucun président ne fera plus de 10 ans au Togo »pic.twitter.com/u3Ue3X0gXs — LSI AFRICA (@lsiafrica) June 25, 2025
🚨🇹🇬 #TOGO Ahead of fresh protests scheduled for June 26, 27, and 28, 2025, the artist and activist Zaga Bambo is a key figure in the backlash against the Togolese government. In an exclusive interview with LSI Africa, the man many consider the spokesperson for today’s frustrated youth challenged Faure Gnassingbé’s regime: “We will keep fighting until Faure leaves power. Never again will a president serve more than ten years in Togo,” he stressed. pic.twitter.com/u3Ue3X0gXs — LSI AFRICA (@lsiafrica) June 25, 2025
What’s more, Facebook is where announcements and calls for greater awareness of the crisis paralyzing this country are made. Although the government didn’t authorize these protests, the population collectively decided to show its discontent on the streets in June 2025.
On the night of June 5 to June 6, 2025, Togolese citizens took to the streets, primarily in Lomé (the capital of Togo). Although this first wave of demonstrations resulted in several arrests, even more people gathered in further protests on June 26, 27, and 28, 2025, resulting in at least seven deaths and dozens injured.
Throttled connections
Just as the internet’s mobilizing power was gaining momentum, the authorities decided to restrict and reduce internet connection speeds considerably. Various social networks struggled, reducing communications between the Togolese diaspora and those in the country itself.
On the evening of June 28, 2025, the Internet Society Togo Chapter, a global charity working to close the digital divide, released a statement on the internet disruptions throughout June. A Togolese Internet Society representative stated:
Entre le 25 et le 27 juin 2025, un total de 15 430 mesures techniques ont été réalisées à travers différents réseaux d’accès fixes et mobiles opérant sur le territoire national. Ces mesures, conduites avec rigueur et selon une méthodologie standardisée, ont mis en évidence un ensemble de dysfonctionnements importants : 1072 anomalies techniques détectées, soit un taux d’irrégularité de 6,9 % sur l’échantillon observé;
Une progression rapide et préoccupante des incidents critiques, passant de 76 anomalies le 25 juin à 360 le 27 juin, soit une multiplication par près de cinq en 72 heures ;
Une hausse des échecs de connexion (281 sur la période), dont 127 sur la seule journée du 27 juin;
Des temps de réponse DNS médians de 144 ms, avec des pointes mesurées à plus de 180 ms ;
Une latence réseau moyenne de 118 ms, atteignant jusqu’à 200 ms dans certains créneaux horaires ;
Des indices élevés d’interruption prématurée de sessions TCP, notamment dans les phases de synchronisation ou d’accusé de réception, pouvant correspondre à des blocages techniques intentionnels.
Between June 25 and 27, 2025, 15,430 technical measurements were made across various fixed and mobile access networks operating in Togo. These measurements, conducted rigorously and under a standardized methodology, highlighted a range of significant malfunctions: 1072 technical anomalies were detected , which is an irregularity rate of 6.9 percent in the sample observed ;
A rapid and concerning increase in the number of critical incidents. An almost fivefold increase in anomalies in just 72 hours, rising from 76 on June 25 to 360 on June 27.
A rise in connection failures. There were 282 over this period, including 127 on June 27 alone.
The median DNS (Domain Name System) response time is 144 ms (milliseconds), with some measuring at more than 180 ms.
High rates of abrupt TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) session closures, especially during the synchronization (SYN) or acknowledgement (ACK) processes. These are likely due to intentional technical blocking mechanisms.
Aside from the anomalies identified in these studies, the organization says citizens have been in contact, warning about the lack of access to international news platforms. The Internet Society highlighted:
Parallèlement à ces constats techniques, plusieurs dizaines de citoyens ont signalé à notre organisation des interruptions d’accès à certaines plateformes d’information internationales, des ralentissements sévères sur les services courants (mails, plateformes éducatives, applications professionnelles), ainsi qu’une instabilité inhabituelle de la connexion, notamment via les réseaux mobiles.
In addition to these technical findings, dozens of citizens have notified our organization about interrupted access to specific international news platforms, a significant slowdown in day-to-day services (mail, education platforms, and professional applications), and an unusual connection instability, especially on mobile networks.
The incidents the organization recorded reflect the Togolese authorities’ clear intention to stifle freedom of expression and deny people internet access.
The difficulties in accessing the internet in June also attracted the attention of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. According to an article by media outlet Togo Scoop, these researchers say these are indeed sophisticated restrictions:
Il s’agit de restrictions d’accès à Internet d’une nature particulièrement « sophistiquée », qui ne relèvent pas d’une interruption complète du service, mais d’une forme évoluée de limitation ciblée. Ces restrictions prennent la forme de censures applicatives, affectant sélectivement certaines plateformes comme YouTube, de ralentissements intentionnels du trafic (throttling) réduisant significativement la qualité de l’accès, ainsi que de blocages spécifiques par filtrage DNS ou IP.
These are particularly sophisticated internet access restrictions. Rather than a complete loss of service, these restrictions are an advanced form of targeted restrictions. They involve application censorship, selectively affecting platforms like YouTube, the intentional slowdown of data flow (trafficking), significantly reducing access quality, and specific blocks using DNS and IP (Internet Protocol) filtering.
What is the overall impact on the country?
Today, the internet is an integral tool in the work of thousands of professionals in Togo, who suffered huge losses during these internet restrictions and shutdowns.
Following the popular uprising in August 2017, which Tikpi Atchadam, a member of the opposition and leader of the Pan African National Party (PNP), instigated, the Togolese people experienced a similar situation. The internet was cut off from September 5–10 and September 19–21, 2017.
In December 2018, with the support of international organizations like Amnesty International Togo, Togoleee civil society organizations filed a complaint to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice. In June 2020, ECOWAS ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ordering the Togolese government to pay each one FCFA 2 million (USD 3,583). This Togolese case, a first in the ECOWAS region, now serves as a landmark for this court and other national courts.
Around this time, Bonaventure Mawuvi N’Coué, a civil society actor and member of the Media Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IM2DH), told news agency EcoFin:
Cette coupure a empêché la société civile de s’organiser pour les manifestations, de s’exprimer et d’informer sur la mobilisation, ainsi que de documenter et informer les personnes au Togo et au-delà, concernant les violations des droits humains et la répression par les forces de sécurité. A cela se sont ajoutées l’impossibilité pour tout individu de communiquer pendant ces jours et des conséquences économiques néfastes pour le pays.
This shutdown prevented civil society from learning about the protests, making arrangements for them, being heard, and informing people in Togo and beyond about the security forces’ human rights violations and repression. Everyone’s inability to communicate on those days and its detrimental economic impact on the country only add to this.
For Amnesty International Togo, the message is clear:
…les coupures volontaires d’Internet violent la liberté d’expression
This intentional internet shutdown violates freedom of expression.
Just as Togolese citizens once again experience frustration over the violation of their internet rights, the authorities seem determined to continue their absolute control over internet access. However, some people have turned to virtual private networks (VPNs) to access news sites and social networks.
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https://globalvoices.org/2025/07/16/togo-restricts-internet-during-june-protests/
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