Equatorial Guinea’s government has imposed new restrictions on the use of mobile data for downloading and sharing multimedia content on WhatsApp, following a scandal involving a senior government official.
The restriction came after Baltasar Engonga, the Director General of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), was implicated in a sex scandal.
Engonga, who is 54, became the center of attention after an investigation into a fraud case led to the discovery of explicit videos on his computer.
Authorities reportedly found over 400 videos in Engonga’s office, showing the official engaging in sexual acts with several high-profile women.
Among them were the wives of top government officials, including ministers and even the sister of the country’s president. The videos were later leaked online, causing public outrage.
In response to the controversy, the government issued new guidelines to telecommunications companies, urging them to restrict access to “inappropriate content” and curb the sharing of videos and images via mobile data.
As a result, citizens have been unable to share multimedia files over mobile networks, leaving them to rely on WiFi for communication.
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This move has sparked widespread complaints among the public. Many have expressed frustration at the disruption, as WhatsApp is widely used for both personal and work-related communication.
Citizens have voiced concerns over the fairness of the blanket restrictions, arguing that punishing the entire population for the actions of one individual seems disproportionate.
A report from the news platform Ahora EG quotes one source saying, “Why should the whole country suffer because of a few people? This measure seems more focused on controlling than facilitating communication.”
Others have questioned the lack of transparency from the authorities, as they have not clarified how long the restrictions will last or explained their reasons for imposing such drastic measures.
