Reverse blanket ban on social media with immediate effect Amnesty International is calling on South Sudan’s National Communication Authority (NCA) to immediately reverse its order, issued on 22 January, to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block social media platforms for a minimum of 30 days, extendable to a maximum of 90 days. Following outcry by human rights actors and the public, Napoleon Adok, the NCA Director addressed the media on 23 January saying that the South Sudanese government would lift the ban within 72 hours.

 

The NCA’s order states it was issued in response to violent attacks against Sudanese people and businesses in South Sudan that occurred last week after circulation of images online of South Sudanese people killed in the war in Sudan.

 

The order cites sections 9(f)(g) of the 2012 National Communication Act that provides for the NCA to “limit practices that contravene beliefs, values, culture and heritage of the people of South Sudan” with “due regard to regional and international standards and practices