In the most recent crackdown on violent extremism, Somalia declared on Wednesday that it had shut down hundreds of media websites it claimed were spreading Al-Shabaab themes.
Abdurahman Yusuf Al-Adala, the deputy information minister, asserted that authorities had shut down up to 500 outlets, including websites and social media accounts linked to the insurgents group.
The change came after the Somali government had already ordered communication providers to block Al-Shabaab-friendly websites in October.
Early in October, the Ministry of Communications and Technology of the Somali government said that the majority of notable Al-Shabaab websites had been disabled.
“By end of last month (October), the government inactivated more than 500 sites and social media accounts,” wrote Al-Adala on his official Facebook account.
“Since we started tracing the sites and other electronic facilities used by Al-Shabaab, we closed more than 500 accounts on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and TikTok,” he added.
The deputy minister emphasised that the government was made aware of the terrorist group’s use of unofficial media by members of the general public.
“We thank the public for sharing with us the pages secretly used by Khawarij to spread their misleading objectives,” wrote Al-Adala.
In addition to providing material, it is widely thought that the insurgents group utilises the websites and social media accounts to recruit new members, including teenagers who are seduced into joining the cause with ties to Al-Qaeda.
The president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, declared that his country would employ all available measures to combat Al-Shabaab, including military, economic, and intellectual methods, in close coordination with the general populace. Recall that the Somali government imposed a media ban on Al-Shabaab in the middle of October.
The Ministry of Information reports that 40 social media accounts, one television station, and ten news websites have all been banned for supporting or being utilised by Al-Shabaab.