BLOCKED THE INTERNET UPSHOT BY DRC’S GOVERNMENT ON ITS CITIZENS by Irivuzimana Aime Muyombano Ph.D


BLOCKED THE INTERNET UPSHOT BY DRC’S GOVERNMENT ON ITS CITIZENS by Aimé MUYOMBANO


The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have ordered a social networks blackout on Sunday 18th December 2016 until unknown date when in other hand will be the end of H.E Joseph Kabila, President of DRC mandate. The opposition coalition led by Étienne Tshisekedi has vowed to hit the streets to unseat him.
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has imposed an Internet blackout on the Country for a third straight day as protesters kept up pressure on President Joseph Kabila. The block spans content creation and information sharing platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Skype, Viber, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, among others. The government late Monday ordered telecommunications companies to sever all Internet and short-message services, after anti-government protests spread from the capital Kinshasa to the restive eastern Kivu provinces. At least 15 people have been killed since the protests erupted, said Information Minister Lambert Mende, who said most of the dead were looters. But the International Federation for Human Rights on Thursday put the number of the dead at 42. Mr. Mende disputed that figure. ‘Any elite move to displace Kabila could unleash unpredictable political and social forces. The country is ill-prepared to manage these peacefully.’
Critical Analysis
Internet is the control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet enacted by regulators, or on their own initiative. Individuals and organizations may engage in self-censorship for moral, religious, or business reasons such as cooperative, association … to conform to societal norms, due to intimidation, or out of fear of legal or other consequences. The extent of Internet censorship varies on a country-to-country basis. While most democratic countries have moderate Internet censorship, other countries go as far as to limit the access of information such as news and suppress discussion among citizens. Internet also occurs in response to or in anticipation of events such as elections, protests, and riots. An example is the increased censorship due to the events of the Arab Spring. Other areas of censorship include copyrights, defamation, harassment, and obscene material.
Small but increasing group of Developing countries in particular third world countries governments to block social media during their elections services which those governments think that these should assist them to cut off the supply of cute kitten pictures particularly in the ‘said countries. Politically, Developing countries in particularly third world countries tweeters tend to be more political than tweeters in other blocs, according to research by Portland Communications and governments are blocking social media during elections most recently in currently countries in the election because they don’t want their population spread the information before their decisions making. For an indication of the political impact social media can make it and provide the realities or lies in some time. "Social media and media did not cause the 'Arab Spring' but helped to co-ordinate it," Arthur Goldstuck from technology market research company Worldwide Worx.
Governments do not say they are worried that social media could pave the way for popular protests or even a revolution. But security is often cited including in the order for mobile operators to stop services in some countries of third world countries. The advent of the mobile phone enabled local observer groups to collate the results from individual polling stations around the country and add them up to see if the results were being rigged.
If mobile phones don't work, this can no longer be done. However, results spread by opposition parties are also not necessarily accurate and third world countries’ experts insisted that social media use to be blocked during the election to "stop spreading lies". This can be one of the strategy that the DRCs government should use at least to support them particularly DRC 's Constitutional Court to command the stay on until a successor is elected and postpone the Elections till unknown date.
It's couldn’t be a surprise that Kabila's government is cracking down on social media, remember these tools of communication are the major tools of mobilising to date which can impact any government which don’t want to leave the place, in particularly social media  such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, WhatsApp and These tools are the central to this protest movement, reason why DRC Government is trying to block them as quickly as they can can." Analytically, this is way of CITIZENS expressions stopped is  a restriction of freedom to express themselves and access information and communication even if you look on the community’s date that they want to have in their history, the 19th  December 2016 could be one of  their important date and people have the right to know what's going on.

Let remind you that this is not the first time the DRC government has resorted to imposing media blackouts because even in January 2015 the government shut down the internet and blocked SMS services for mobile phones throughout the country following deadly clashes with the police. "It's a reaction of urgency, emergency,"Usually, regimes which resort to internet censorship or blackout are mostly and more importantly preoccupied by the image they will have and also by the free flow of information, which will obviously tarnish their image."

The DRC is under the international spotlight, she points out. "So if they let images and photos flow freely, showing how their police are targeting civilians and unarmed protesters, even when accused of killing these people, obviously this will not be good for their image." When we look on Information Communication Technology system used and controlled the WWW Eses there is a have failed to understand how the cyber world works, she argues. "We've seen that on the internet, whenever you're trying to hide or censor something, the more it will become visible because nobody likes hidden things. So if you're hiding something, it means that that thing happens to be very important. So it's very counterproductive."
With the critics analysis it could take years to put together census to cover a country the size of Western Europe. The government insists a census could be completed within a year. H.E. Kabila, in power since 2001, has struggled to assert state authority in vast areas of his country. His credibility has suffered after a flawed 2011 vote, which kept him in power, and rebel-led attacks, which have exposed weaknesses in the national army. Analysts warn that his potential ouster risks plunging the country into even deeper turmoil. “Any elite move to displace Kabila could unleash unpredictable political and social forces,” U.K.-based consultancy Oxford Analytical said in a note this week. “The country is ill-prepared to manage these peacefully.” The government’s decision to respond to the unrest by shutting down access to the Internet reflects its growing unease over the political situation. The drastic step offered a reminder of the challenges telecom companies face even as they step up efforts to do business in the mineral-rich but chaotic nation.
“We do not know at this stage when Internet services will be restored,” said Julian Eccles, spokesman for Luxembourg-based Millicom International, one of the telecom operators in the country. Richard Boorman, the spokesman for South Africa-based Vodacom Group Ltd. the largest telecom company in the country by subscription, said the move was taking a toll on the company’s operations. Millicom and Vodacom said they couldn’t immediately reveal losses suffered as a result of the shutdown. India-based Bharti Airtel, the other main operator, didn’t immediately return calls and emails seeking comment. The country’s decision to choke off Internet access entirely is unusual. Since Tuesday, voice rather than data has been Congo’s main mode of communication. Following the move, the protests have been more sporadic and less organized compared with earlier demonstrations, said government officials and witnesses.