Mozambique blocked Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp amid protests

On 29th October 2024, after an internet blackout on 25th October 2024, Mozambique blocked access to Meta services amid protests against the general elections results. This is not the first time that Mozambique is experiencing shutdowns. In October 2023, media reported an internet blackout on major providers’ networks in Mozambique as the polling stations were closing after the local elections.

The October 2024 blocks were widely reported by various human rights organisations (such as Human Rights Watch and Internet Society), as NCIM (National Communications Institute of Mozambique) issued a vague statement that “[internet restrictions] have followed the concern of the use of telecommunications networks in the country to publish videos and messages that promote and encourage violent demonstrations and other acts of disobedience and social destabilization” without providing any legal ground for the blocking order.

OONI data collected from Mozambique suggests that ISPs started blocking access to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp between 29th October 2024 to 14th November 2024. As can be seen through the following charts, different providers implemented restrictions on different days while on some networks, all services remained accessible throughout the whole period.

As is evident, many measurements from the OONI Probe testing of www.facebook.com, presented anomalies on three networks (AS25139 TVCABO, AS37223 VM, AS30619 Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique), providing a signal of blocking. This signal is quite strong given that, comparatively, the tested domains were found accessible on the same networks earlier in October 2024 (as illustrated in the above chart). While www.facebook.com received limited OONI measurement coverage in October and November 2024, we see that different ISPs implemented the block during different periods and used different methods.

Specifically, OONI data suggests that TVCABO (AS25139) limited access to www.facebook.com between 5th November 2024 to 12th November 2024 by means of DNS interference. On Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique’s network (AS30619) we see www.facebook.com inaccessible only on 13th and 14th November 2024. The blocking on these dates was implemented by means of DNS interference. While access to Facebook services *could *be also limited between 10th to 12th November 2024, we do not have evidence for that due to the lack of measurements collected on these dates from this network. However, we can state with confidence that www.facebook.com was accessible on this network before 9th November 2024. The measurements collected from Vodacom (AS37223) indicate that www.facebook.com was inaccessible on this network between 1st November 2024 to 18th November 2024, and that the blocking was implemented via TCP/IP interference.

While we see some anomalies in earlier days on Vodacom (AS37223) and on 10th to 13th November 2024 on Movitel (AS37342), the measurements from these networks on these days are very limited and are not consistent, so it is hard to make a conclusive statement if www.facebook.com was inaccessible on these networks during this period.

Similarly, as can be seen through the chart below, measurements from the OONI Probe testing of www.instagram.com presented anomalies on the same three networks (AS25139 TVCABO, AS37223 VM, AS30619 Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique), providing a signal of blocking on the same dates.

Similarly to www.facebook.com, TVCABO (AS25139) limited access to www.instagram.com between 5th November 2024 to 12th November 2024 by means of DNS interference. On Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique’s network (AS30619) we see www.instagram.com inaccessible only on 13th and 14th November 2024. Similarly to www.facebook.com, the blocking on these dates was implemented by means of DNS interference.

Most measurements collected from Vodacom (AS37223) between 1st November 2024 to 14th November 2024 show predominantly signs of TLS level interference because the testing of www.instagram.com resulted in “timeout error” after the first “write” operation during the TLS handshake. This indicates that www.instagram.com was likely inaccessible on this network between 1st to 14th November 2024.

While we see some anomalies on Movitel (AS37342), the number of measurements from this network is very limited and the measurement results are not consistent. This indicates that there are signs of potential interference on this network, but it’s not possible to make conclusions only based on OONI measurements.

Between 15th October 2024 to 19th November 2024, OONI data suggests that WhatsApp was inaccessible on at least two networks in Mozambique (AS25139 TVCABO, AS37223 VM).

OONI data suggests that WhatsApp was blocked on TVCABO (AS25139), where attempted connections to WhatsApp’s web version, registration service, and endpoints failed. Quite similarly, OONI data shows that connections to WhatsApp’s web version, registration service, and endpoints failed too on Vodacom (AS37223), though some endpoint connections were successful. Yet, based on our measurement methodology, we consider that users in Mozambique likely could not access WhatsApp Web nor use the WhatsApp mobile app since access to both the WhatsApp web interface and registration service was blocked.

Overall, more testing is needed. If you are in Mozambique, you can contribute more measurements by running OONI Probe.