Mozambique court nullifies decree allowing government to shut down internet

New York, August 3—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by Mozambique’s constitutional court to strike down a decree that allowed the government to shut down the internet.

In its July 31 ruling, the court declared unconstitutional several provisions of December 16’s Telecommunications Traffic Control Regulations Decree that allowed the government to monitor communications, collect user data, suspend internet services, and intervene technically in operators’ networks to enforce its decisions. The court found that the government had exceeded its powers by creating rules that could only be approved by parliament.

“We welcome the court’s decision to protect Mozambicans’ rights to access the internet and the vital information that it provides and to defend civic space,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “At a time when governments are treading roughshod over constitutional guarantees, it’s encouraging to see Mozambique’s judiciary upholding human rights and affirming civil society’s role in challenging restrictive laws.”

The court was responding to a January petition filed by the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), a leading nonprofit, to the Ombudsman, an independent official charged with mediating complaints against the government, to review the legality of the decree.

Under Article 5 of the decree, the government had the power to suspend networks’ telecommunications services when “the existence or imminent risk of fraud is verified or presumed.” In addition, with a court order, it could interrupt “fraudulent telecommunications and traffic services in the event of justifiable fear of a crime or danger to state security and public order.”

CDD’s intervention followed a previous successful suit to stop cell phone operators restricting or blocking internet access during 2024’s post-election protests, which CDD said “severely affected fundamental rights, access to information, freedom of communication and civic participation.”

“Instead of drawing the necessary lessons from that episode, the government subsequently approved Decree No 48/2025 seeking to create a legal basis for restricting the exercise of fundamental rights,” CDD said in an August 2 statement.