Sälemetsiz be,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Gabon suspends social media “until further notice”
- Naritive turns ads into interactive experiences
- Kenya MPs push harder to regulate TikTok
Gabon suspends social media “until further notice”
Gabon just pulled the plug on social media, and people woke up yesterday to platforms like Facebook and TikTok hard to reach or completely blocked. The country’s media regulator, the High Authority for Communication (HAC), announced on Tuesday evening that all social media platforms are suspended “until further notice”, blaming online content for fuelling conflict and deepening divisions in the country.
In a televised statement, HAC spokesperson Jean-Claude Mendome pointed to the spread of false information, rising cyberbullying, and unauthorised leaks of personal data as the main reasons for the decision. He painted a picture of social feeds as dangerous territory that “undermines social cohesion, national stability and security.” While he didn’t name platforms, most Gabonese regularly use WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which are now effectively off limits for many users.
So what does this mean for everyday life? A lot. Social media isn’t just entertainment in Gabon; it’s a key tool for business, especially for younger people and small enterprises. One Libreville restaurant owner told the BBC that nearly 40% of his customers came because they saw his posts online, a lifeline many businesses now risk losing. Without social feeds, promotion, reviews and word-of-mouth all shrink overnight.
The backdrop to this digital blackout is political tension. Gabon is led by General Brice Oligui Nguema, who took power in a 2023 coup and then won a presidential election in 2025 with over 90% of the vote. Since then, the country has seen growing unrest, including strikes by teachers and civil servants over pay and working conditions and protests that often bubbled up on social media before the clampdown.
Why we should care: this move isn’t just about Gabon. Across Africa and the world, governments are wrestling with how to manage social platforms that can both inform and inflame. Gabon’s ban highlights how fragile digital freedoms can be when political tensions rise and how quickly governments can cut access to tools that many people rely on for business, news, and day-to-day connections.
Naritive turns ads into interactive experiences
Let’s be honest: most of us don’t even see ads anymore. We scroll past them, close them, or mentally block them out. That “banner blindness” problem has quietly drained marketing budgets for years. But for the founders of Naritive, it sparked a different question: what if ads weren’t interruptions, but experiences people actually wanted to interact with?
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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Naritive started as a scrappy prototype in Johannesburg in early 2024. Fast forward to today, and it’s being used by more than 100 brands and agencies across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the US. Founders Rafiq Phillips and Nicolas Van Zyl built it after seeing first-hand how badly traditional display ads were performing. Phillips, who previously managed search marketing and digital campaigns for MTN South Africa, says he kept running into the same issue: low engagement, creative fatigue, and audiences just not paying attention. So he decided to build something better.
At its core, Naritive is an ad-tech platform that lets brands create interactive ads for the open web. Think publisher websites, not just social media feeds. Using tools like Google DV360, brands can deploy formats that look more like Instagram-style stories than static banners. Users can vote in polls, take quizzes, scratch to reveal discounts, browse live product feeds, or even add events to their calendars, all inside the ad unit.
There are two main offerings: Ad Stories and Ad Social. Brands can either use Naritive’s in-house team to handle everything end-to-end (creative, setup, optimisation) or opt for a white-label SaaS version where their internal teams build and launch campaigns themselves. The startup is also testing a lead-generation feature that lets users drop their contact details directly inside an ad, sending that data straight into a client’s CRM without disrupting the browsing experience.
The bigger picture? Naritive is betting that engagement, not impressions, is the future of digital advertising. And with global expansion already underway, it seems brands are buying into that idea. For more on how Naritive is rethinking digital ads and scaling beyond South Africa, check out Delight’s latest for Techpoint Africa.
Kenyan MPs push harder to regulate TikTok
Kenyan lawmakers are ramping up pressure to regulate social media platforms like TikTok, and it’s about more than just kids’ safety. MPs in the National Assembly have been debating new rules for TikTok, focusing on concerns over its impact on young people, cultural values, and the spread of misinformation, especially with the 2027 general elections less than a year away.
Leading voices in Parliament, like Eric Muchangi Karemba and Tom Joseph Kajwang, have highlighted issues such as mental health strain among teens, alleged data privacy problems, and inappropriate livestreams that clash with Kenya’s social and religious norms. While some have called for a ban, the push in the House is now clearly tilted toward oversight and regulation, not a full shutdown.
Instead of a ban, MPs want a regulatory framework that holds TikTok and similar platforms accountable to Kenyan law. A parliamentary committee has rejected a total ban as unconstitutional and harmful to the digital economy, saying it could undermine freedom of expression and youth entrepreneurship.
Key proposals include local data storage requirements, better age verification tools, stronger content moderation that understands Kenyan languages and culture, and new monetisation rules so local creators can earn on the platform. Lawmakers also want more human moderators and detailed audits of TikTok’s AI content filters.
Why does it matter? Social media is deeply woven into Kenya’s economy and politics, with platforms like TikTok playing a major role in information sharing, entertainment, and youth activism. How the government regulates these tools could shape how Kenyans connect, express themselves, and even engage in future elections.
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Have a superb Thursday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
