---
title: Mauritanian government seeks to tighten grip on internet - Developing Telecoms
description: Mauritania has prompted outcry from human rights watchdogs after indicating that the government could further tighten its grip on internet usage.
canonical_url: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/11479-mauritanian-government-seeks-to-tighten-grip-on-internet.html
language: en-GB
date: 2021-07-07T13:56:49Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/11479-mauritanian-government-seeks-to-tighten-grip-on-internet.html. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1176
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/11479-mauritanian-government-seeks-to-tighten-grip-on-internet.html. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


 [Regulation](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation.html)## Mauritanian government seeks to tighten grip on internet

 

 

   Details    James Barton    Category: [Regulation](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation.html)     07 July 2021     8800 views   

 

  ![Mauritanian government seeks to tighten grip on internet](https://developingtelecoms.com/images/stories/Places/800x600/Nouakchott_mosque_600.jpg)  

 

Mauritania has prompted outcry from human rights watchdogs after indicating that the government could further tighten its grip on internet usage.

According to a report from Ecofin, the administration of president Mohamed Ould Ghazouani is seeking to bolster a cybercrime law passed by its predecessor in 2016. Under this law, several political bloggers and activists have already been imprisoned.

CommsUpdate quoted Ghazouni as saying that online platforms, including social media, were being used “to undermine public stability, spread false rumours or spread hatred and incite social groups against others.”

Ghazouni’s warning is an increasingly common refrain in Africa, where longstanding political leaders are recognising that the internet offers citizens frustrated by under-representation with a platform for mobilizing opposition to their entrenched administrations.

[Nigeria recently blocked access to Twitter after the site removed a tweet by the country’s president that threatened regional secessionists](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/11282-nigeria-blocks-access-to-twitter-for-removing-president-s-tweet.html), while [Uganda shut down access to social media two days before a national election in January. ](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/consumer-ecosystems/10560-uganda-orders-social-media-and-messaging-blackout-two-days-before-election.html)Bobby Wine, the key challenger to incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, had gained a significant following among younger tech-savvy citizens keen for change.

 

 

   
## More Articles you may be Interested in...

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#james_barton_4d6427c012"
            },
            "dateModified": "2021-07-07T13:56:49Z",
            "datePublished": "2021-07-07T13:56:49Z",
            "description": "Mauritania has prompted outcry from human rights watchdogs after indicating that the government could further tighten its grip on internet usage.",
            "headline": "Mauritanian government seeks to tighten grip on internet",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/Places\/Nouakchott_mosque_600.jpg",
                    "caption": "",
                    "description": "Mauritanian government seeks to tighten grip on internet",
                    "width": 600,
                    "height": 450
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/telecom-regulation\/11479-mauritanian-government-seeks-to-tighten-grip-on-internet.html"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/telecom-regulation\/11479-mauritanian-government-seeks-to-tighten-grip-on-internet.html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "James Barton",
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#james_barton_4d6427c012"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Developing Telecoms"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/highResLogos\/dt-site-logo-440.png",
            "width": "440",
            "height": "122"
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->