Internet & Online Safety · Senegal
Online safety & content laws in Senegal (2026)
Senegal shaded by its internet & online safety status
Senegal operates a partial online safety regime built around a cluster of 2008 digital laws covering cybercrime, electronic transactions, and personal data, supplemented by 2016 penal-code amendments that added offences such as digital identity theft and cyberterrorism. No comprehensive online safety or platform-regulation law equivalent to the EU DSA or UK OSA is in force or formally tabled as of 2026. The government has repeatedly imposed reactive internet shutdowns and social-media blocks during political unrest (2023–2024), drawing international censure but acting outside any coherent statutory framework.
Key points
Law 2008-11 of 25 January 2008 criminalises attacks on information-system confidentiality, integrity and availability; it inserted Articles 431-7 to 431-61 into the Penal Code with imprisonment of 6 months–5 years and fines of 1–10 million FCFA. Laws 2016-29 and 2016-30 later added offences including fraudulent data copying, digital-identity usurpation, and cyberterrorism.
Article 3(5) of Law 2008-08 on Electronic Transactions imposes no general monitoring obligation on hosting or transit intermediaries. However, for crimes against humanity, incitement to racial hatred, and child sexual abuse material, platforms must maintain 'easily accessible and visible' reporting mechanisms; failure to act on notified unlawful content can engage criminal liability of legal entities.
The government executed multiple internet shutdowns during political unrest: social-media platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok) were blocked in June 2023 and July–August 2023 following protests over opposition leader Ousmane Sonko's prosecution; mobile internet was cut again in February 2024 after the postponement of presidential elections. OONI and NetBlocks documented each incident; legal challenges were filed before the ECOWAS Court.
Law 2008-12 governs personal data protection, enforced by the CDP. A draft replacement law has been circulated to modernise the regime for biometrics, AI, big data, and cloud computing as part of the Digital Senegal 2025 strategy; as of early 2026 it has not been enacted.
Senegal has enacted no age-verification requirements for online platforms and no comprehensive platform-regulation or online-safety statute comparable to the EU DSA or UK Online Safety Act. The 'Nouveau Deal Technologique Horizon 2034' digital strategy outlines connectivity and e-governance ambitions but does not include a scheduled online-safety legislative package.
The ARTP (Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes) oversees telecommunications and internet service providers under the 2018 Telecommunications Code but has no explicit statutory content-moderation or platform-safety mandate beyond its licensing and technical-standards remit.
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