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Mozambique’s Constitutional Council has struck down a government decree that gave authorities broad powers to suspend internet and telecommunications services, ruling that restrictions affecting fundamental rights cannot be introduced through an executive decree.
The ruling, delivered on July 31, 2026, invalidated key provisions of Decree No. 48/2025, known as the Telecommunications Traffic Control Regulation. The regulation had expanded the powers of Mozambique’s National Communications Institute (INCM) to suspend internet services, monitor communications, collect user data and intervene in telecommunications networks when authorities considered there to be a threat to public or state security.
Court Challenges Executive Authority
The Constitutional Council did not rule that internet shutdowns can never be authorised. Instead, its decision focused on who has the constitutional authority to impose restrictions on fundamental rights.
The court found that measures affecting rights including freedom of expression and information, privacy and the confidentiality of communications must be established by Parliament, rather than created through an executive regulation.
The decision therefore removes the legal foundation that the government had relied on to authorise shutdowns under the 2025 decree.
Decree Followed Earlier Internet Shutdown Dispute
The latest ruling is significant because it follows a similar legal battle during Mozambique’s post-election crisis in October and November 2024.
During that period, internet access and social media services were disrupted for weeks. The Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) subsequently challenged the continued restrictions involving telecommunications operators Movitel, Vodacom and Tmcel.
The organisation won a favourable court ruling in December 2024, establishing an important legal precedent around internet access and government restrictions.
Despite that development, Mozambique’s government approved the Telecommunications Traffic Control Regulation in December 2025, effectively creating a formal regulatory framework for powers that had already faced legal opposition.
What the 2025 Regulation Allowed
Under the disputed regulation, the INCM could suspend telecommunications services where authorities believed there was an imminent threat to public or state security.
The powers extended beyond shutting down connectivity. The regulation also permitted monitoring of communications, collection of user information and technical intervention in operators’ networks to enforce government decisions.
The Constitutional Council found that these provisions crossed the limits of executive authority because they could interfere with constitutionally protected rights.
Parliament Could Still Legislate Shutdown Powers
The court’s decision does not completely eliminate the possibility of internet restrictions in Mozambique.
Instead, it means the executive cannot establish such sweeping powers through a decree. Parliament could still consider legislation addressing telecommunications restrictions, provided such legislation complies with constitutional requirements.
This leaves the next move largely with Mozambique’s political authorities, which have yet to indicate whether they will pursue a parliamentary route.
Internet Access Remains Limited
The dispute is unfolding against the backdrop of relatively low internet penetration in Mozambique.
At the beginning of 2025, only about 19.8% of the country’s population was online, equivalent to approximately 6.96 million people. High data costs and limited broadband coverage outside major urban centres have been identified among the factors restricting wider access.
For a country where internet access is already limited, rights groups argue that government-ordered disruptions can further restrict citizens’ ability to access information, communicate and participate in civic activities.
Ruling Adds to African Pushback
Mozambique’s decision adds to a growing number of legal challenges to internet shutdowns and government attempts to control digital access across Africa.
In May 2025, Kenya’s High Court barred the government, regulator and telecommunications operators from disrupting internet access, while Uganda ordered a nationwide internet shutdown around its January 2026 general election.
The economic consequences of such disruptions are also becoming increasingly visible. Research cited by Techpoint Africa estimates that internet shutdowns cost sub-Saharan Africa $1.5 billion in 2024 alone.
A Victory for Digital Rights
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed Mozambique’s ruling, describing it as an important protection for citizens’ access to the internet, information and civic space.
The judgment also gives civil society organisations another legal basis to challenge future attempts to restrict connectivity without appropriate legislative authority.
For now, Mozambique’s Constitutional Council has drawn a clear constitutional boundary around the government’s ability to control internet access through executive regulation.
Whether that boundary becomes a lasting protection for digital rights will depend on what the government and Parliament do next.
