The Administrative Center of Economic and Financial Services in Lomé, the capital of Togo. Image by Jean Sovon. Used with permission.

In Togo, the authorities have restated their intentions to regulate online speech, restricting the use of social media amid heightened political tensions in this country of over 9.5 million citizens.

Early in June 2025, protests broke out across the country over the Gnassingbé regime, which has been in power for over half a century. The internet and messaging platforms were instrumental in the rallies that the Togolese diaspora initiated. Togolese citizens living abroad and in Togo turned to Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and X to express their frustration over the regime of President Faure Gnassingbé, who has been in office since succeeding his father, Gnassimgbé Eyadéma, in 2005.

Since June, the government has launched frequent internet disruptions. Many online media outlets have stopped working or are only accessible to citizens using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

Tightening government policies

In late September, just as internet disruptions subsided, another surprise awaited Togolese internet users: an embargo on the various channels that cyber-activists use to send messages.

During a press conference on October 3, 2025, public prosecutor Talaka Mawana announced the authorities would be tightening controls on “social media misuse.” He said:

« Quiconque produira, reproduira, diffusera, publiera, partagera à travers une plateforme numérique, un fait qui sort du cadre légal en vigueur, sera l’objet de poursuites pénales sans compromis et sans complaisance.

Anyone who produces, reproduces, broadcasts, publishes, or shares content on a digital platform outside the existing legal framework will face criminal prosecution without leniency or compromise.

The prosecutor went one step further, including internet users who “like” or leave comments approving or validating this content:

Il en sera de même pour quiconque publiera un commentaire validant une publication illicite. La complicité par approbation expose également à des poursuites, car la loi nous impose à tous de dénoncer tout crime ou délit dont nous avons connaissance »,

The same applies to anyone who posts comments that validate unlawful posts. As the law requires that we report any offense or crime of which we are aware, complicity by approval will also result in prosecution.

Talaka Mawana also mentioned the existing legal framework and the texts and laws applicable in the event of non-compliance with the new principles that the authorities have established:

Lorsque dans l’utilisation de ces plateformes numériques, l’on en vient à commettre des faits qualifiables d’infractions, le cadre légal togolais permet d’y apporter une réponse appropriée. Ce cadre légal est donc principalement constitué de textes de loi que sont: le nouveau code pénal, le code de l’enfant, la loi sur la cybersécurité et la cybercriminalité, le code de la presse et de la communication, la loi relative à la protection des données à caractère personnel. Ces différents textes prévoient des agissements pouvant être qualifiés d’infractions.

If anyone commits an act classified as an offense when using these digital platforms, the Togolese legal framework ensures an appropriate response. This legal framework mainly includes laws such as the new Penal Code, the Children’s Code, the Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Law, the Press and Communication Code, and the Personal Data Protection Law. These various texts cover acts classified as offenses.

Following the judicial authority’s stern warning, the media regulatory body, the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC), highlighted that the public prosecutor’s warning also applies to media professionals. According to the statement released on October 7:

…Ils (les professionnels de médias) doivent notamment veiller à la vérification rigoureuse des faits par un recoupement professionnel de l’information avant toute publication ou diffusion; la vérification des informations véhiculées par les réseaux sociaux s’ils veulent les exploiter comme sources d’information: la préservation de la dignité et de l’honneur des citoyens ainsi que de l’ordre public dans le traitement de l’information. Ils doivent en outre proscrire: l’atteinte à la vie privée et à l’image d’autrui; l’incitation à la haine raciale, ethnique, religieuse, l’apologie des crimes ou du terrorisme: la diffusion des propos injurieux ou outrageants ou du secret de défense.

Media professionals must ensure rigorous fact-checking by cross-checking information professionally before publishing or broadcasting, verify the information shared on social media if they intend to use it as a source of information, and preserve citizen dignity, honor, and public order in information processing. They must also avoid privacy breaches, damaging another’s reputation, inciting racial, ethnic, or religious hatred, condoning crimes or terrorism, sharing abusive or offensive comments, and disclosing defense secrets.

A crushing blow to freedom of expression

The 2024 and 2025 Freedom House reports confirm that freedom of expression is extremely limited in Togo, with the recent protests and repression further threatening this right. The country’s current state of affairs puts freedom of expression at risk of disappearing, as highlighted in this article by local media outlet IciLomé, “In Togo, freedom of expression no longer exists.”

Togo isn’t the only country in this situation. In Côte d'Ivoire, in July 2025, the justice system toughened its stance on internet users using social media to discredit, defame, and insult both their fellow citizens and the country’s authorities. The first person subjected to this law was 43-year-old state-registered nurse Topkah Jean Japhet. Under an official post by Ivorian President Alassane Dramane Ouattara, Topkah Jean Japhet commented:

Si la mère du président l’avait avorté, elle aurait rendu un grand service à l’Afrique.

If the president’s mother had aborted him, she would have done Africa a great service.

On July 18, 2025, Topkah Jean Japhet was imprisoned for three years and fined FCFA 5 million (USD 8,887), despite issuing a public apology. Koné Braman, the public prosecutor of Côte d'Ivoire, maintains that the tolerance of online abuse is officially over. He announced:

Ni le repentir, du reste toujours tardif, ni la demande de pardon n’ont un effet sur la réalité des infractions, et ne sauraient, en conséquence, soustraire leurs auteurs de la rigueur de la loi.

Neither remorse, which is always too late, nor pleas for forgiveness have any bearing on the existence of the offense and, therefore, cannot exempt their perpetrators from the full weight of the law.

Deep concerns among internet users

Togolese civil society actors consider the Togolese authorities’ tougher stance a new form of censorship.

In an interview with television news network Africa24, Emmanuel Elolo Agbenonwossi, President of the Internet Society Togo Chapter (the Togolese branch of a global organization advocating for unrestricted internet access worldwide), fears these statements will lead to a rise in fake accounts:

Aujourd’hui, une approche purement punitive ne ferait qu’accentuer la défiance des citoyens et multiplier les faux comptes sur les réseaux sociaux. Et nous devons, chacun dans son rôle, faire œuvre de pédagogie plutôt, renforcer la formation des citoyens.

Today, a purely punitive approach will only heighten citizen mistrust and increase fake accounts on social media. We must, each person in our role, take an educational approach instead, strengthening citizen education.

In Togo, with an internet penetration rate of over 66.56 percent, a significant number of cell phone users, and the essential need to communicate on digital platforms, it is highly unlikely that Togolese internet users will reduce their online activity.

Also read our special coverage: Togo: A country with a dual identity