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Online safety & content laws in Togo (2026)

Online safety rules in Togo: heavy restriction.

Togo has no modern comprehensive online-safety statute; instead, online expression is regulated through criminal-law tools, chiefly the 2018 cybersecurity/cybercrime law that punishes 'false information' with up to three years' prison and the 2020 Press Code, combined with direct state restriction of the internet. Authorities throttled connectivity and blocked Facebook, Telegram, Signal, YouTube and other services during the June 2025 protests, and in October 2025 the public prosecutor publicly threatened criminal prosecution of social-media users for content shared 'outside the legal framework.' Civil society and the ECOWAS Court treat these measures as unlawful censorship, making heavy state restriction the defining feature of Togo's current internet-governance posture.

Last verified Official sources first · MethodologyCompare Togo with other countries

Legal framework

No comprehensive online-safety/platform-liability law (no DSA/OSA equivalent). Online content is governed by speech-restrictive criminal provisions, Law No. 2018-026 (cybersecurity & cybercrime, esp. Art. 25 on 'false information'), the 2020 Press and Communication Code, and the Penal Code, enforced alongside recurrent state-ordered internet/social-media shutdowns. Institutions: ANCy (cybersecurity), ARCEP (telecoms), HAAC (media), IPDCP (data protection).

Key points: internet & online safety in Togo

  1. No comprehensive online-safety law

    Togo has not enacted a DSA/OSA-style platform-safety or content-moderation statute; online content is instead policed via criminal and press laws. There is no dedicated platform-liability or statutory age-verification regime for online services.

    numerique.gouv.tg droit-afrique.com

  2. Cybercrime law criminalizes 'false information'

    Law No. 2018-026 of 7 Dec 2018 (amended by Law No. 2022-009), Article 25, punishes disseminating false information via an information system to cause panic with 1-3 years' imprisonment and fines of 1-3 million CFA francs.

    sherloc.unodc.org numerique.gouv.tg

  3. Internet/social-media shutdowns during June 2025 protests

    Following the 26-28 June 2025 anti-government protests, authorities restricted connectivity and rendered Facebook, Signal, Telegram, YouTube and DuckDuckGo largely inaccessible, forcing users onto VPNs.

    globalvoices.org pulse.internetsociety.org

  4. Prosecutor's October 2025 threat of online prosecution

    On 3 Oct 2025, public prosecutor Talaka Mawana warned that anyone producing, broadcasting, publishing or sharing online content 'outside existing legal frameworks' faces prosecution without leniency, viewed by civil society as expanded censorship.

    advox.globalvoices.org republicoftogo.com

  5. Shutdowns flout binding ECOWAS Court ruling

    The ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled in June 2020 that Togo's 2017 protest-era internet disruption was illegal and ordered non-recurrence; the 2025 shutdowns disregarded that judgment.

    advox.globalvoices.org mfwa.org

  6. Data protection and media institutions exist separately

    Law No. 2019-014 (29 Oct 2019) created the data-protection authority IPDCP; ANCy oversees cybersecurity, ARCEP regulates telecoms, and the HAAC regulates media, but none constitutes an online-content-safety regulator.

    numerique.gouv.tg ipdcp.tg

Sources

  1. numerique.gouv.tg/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Loi-n-2018-026-du-07-decembre-2018-cyberse
  2. sherloc.unodc.org/cld/fr/legislation/tgo/loi_n._2018_-_026_du_071218sur_la_cybersecurit
  3. numerique.gouv.tg/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Loi-n%C2%B0-2022-009-portant-modificat%C2%
  4. droit-afrique.com/uploads/Togo-Code-2020-presse.pdf
  5. numerique.gouv.tg/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Loi-n-2019-014-du-29-octobre-2019-relative
  6. ipdcp.tg/
  7. globalvoices.org/2025/07/16/togo-restricts-internet-during-june-protests/
  8. advox.globalvoices.org/2025/10/19/togolese-authorities-threaten-greater-online-speech-censor
  9. pulse.internetsociety.org/en/shutdowns/blocking-of-services-in-togo/
  10. mfwa.org/country-highlights/togo-internet-disruptions-amid-post-protest-repres
  11. republicoftogo.com/toutes-les-rubriques/justice/la-justice-met-en-garde-contre-l-usage-a
  12. advox.globalvoices.org/2025/07/16/togo-restricted-internet-during-june-protests/

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Orientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026