Online safety & content laws in Sudan (2026)
Online safety rules in Sudan: heavy restriction.
Sudan heavily restricts the internet rather than regulating online safety through a modern platform-liability framework. The state relies on a broad Cybercrime Law to criminalize online speech, the Prosecutor General and TPRA to block websites, and repeated nationwide/localized internet shutdowns during the SAF-RSF civil war (ongoing since April 2023). There is no DSA/OSA-style online-safety or systematic age-verification regime; instead, vague offenses such as 'false news' and threats to the 'prestige of the state' are used to suppress dissent.
Legal framework
Law on Combating Cybercrimes 2018 (amended 2020; further repressive amendments approved by the Cabinet on 13 Oct 2025) plus telecom regulation by the Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority (TPRA); website blocking authority vested in the Prosecutor General. No comprehensive online-safety/platform-moderation statute (no DSA/OSA equivalent).
Key points: internet & online safety in Sudan
Repressive cybercrime law
The Law on Combating Cybercrimes (2018, amended 2020) criminalizes 'false news' and online defamation with mandatory prison terms; amendments approved by the Cabinet on 13 Oct 2025 add penalties up to ~10 years and 10 million SDG fines and use vague terms like 'prestige of the state' and 'threatening social peace.'
Website blocking powers
The Prosecutor General can block any website deemed to threaten national security or violate 'social mores'; the TPRA only allows unblock requests for sites 'deemed not to contain pornography' and does not provide a clear appeal path for political sites. In 2021, 2020 content-filtering regulations were used to block 30+ news websites.
Conflict-era internet shutdowns
Since the April 2023 war began, both SAF and RSF have caused nationwide and localized blackouts by destroying fiber and towers and ordering suspensions; 2025 saw at least four major disruptions, including exam-period mobile cuts (7-10 July 2025) and a Starlink blackout (8-9 Nov 2025).
Platform/service bans
On 25 July 2025 the TPRA suspended WhatsApp voice and video calls nationwide citing 'security concerns,' while leaving text messaging operational, a direct restriction on a major communications platform.
Prosecution of online speech
Freedom House's Freedom on the Net 2025 lowered Sudan's relevant score after SAF and RSF carried out widespread arrests tied to social media activity and a court imposed a four-year prison sentence for online defamation in February 2025.
No online-safety / age-verification regime
Sudan has no comprehensive platform-liability or online-safety statute comparable to the EU DSA or UK OSA, and no systematic statutory age-verification mandate; content control operates through criminal law, prosecutorial blocking, and shutdowns rather than a safety/duty-of-care framework.
Sources
- freedomhouse.org/country/sudan/freedom-net/2025
- ecoi.net/en/document/2133597.html
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_shutdowns_in_Sudan
- accessnow.org/press-release/keepiton-sudan-shutdown/
- skylineforhuman.org/en/news/details/875/sudans-draconian-cybercrime-law-amendments-pose-g
- article19.org/resources/sudan-cybercrime-law-can-restrict-vital-information-during-
- article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Cybercrime-Law-Sudan-Covid-project-final.p
- cipesa.org/wp-content/files/briefs/Sudans_Bad_Laws_Internet_Censorship_and_Repre
- advox.globalvoices.org/2021/03/04/sudans-revised-cybercrime-law-falls-short-on-its-promise/
Next for Sudan: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026