Burundi blocks social media amid anti-Nkurunziza protests

MESSAGING services including Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and Tango have been cut off in Burundi amid protests over the President, Pierre Nkurunziza’s, seeking a third term.

The regulator ordered telecoms operators to block mobile access to certain sites, AFP reported.

The government has banned protests, deployed the Army and shut down the main independent radio station.

There have been days of protests over President Nkurunziza’s decision to stand for re-election in June.

Social media messaging services have been used to coordinate the protests, which are the biggest in Burundi since the civil war ended in 2005.

African public radio, known as “Voice of the Voiceless”, is one of three radio stations whose live broadcasts have been stopped. The government said the radio station was disrupting the peace.

The BBC’s Maud Jullien in the capital, Bujumbura, said people were defying the ban on protesting for a fourth day.

Mr. Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, has warned that anyone who wants to create problems for the governing party would find himself “in trouble”.

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