Facebook removals renew concerns over Somali political and media voices critical of federal government

GAROWE, Puntland — A new wave of Facebook account suspensions, content removals and other digital attacks targeting Somali political leaders, lawmakers, ministers, journalists and media organisations has renewed concerns over the safety of political and media voices critical of Somalia’s federal government.

Among the most prominent cases are Facebook pages belonging to the presidents of Puntland and Jubaland, which were removed from the platform. During the same period, journalists and independent media organisations reported account suspensions, deleted content, copyright claims and cases in which living journalists were falsely reported to Facebook as deceased.

The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said on September 14 that it had recorded an increase in such incidents and that Meta East Africa had not responded to its request for comment.

The incidents are not new.

In late 2024, Somali media organisations documented more than 32 Facebook accounts affected by similar attacks. They included accounts associated with the Puntland presidency, ministers and politicians, while Jubaland also recorded an incident affecting the Facebook account of its president.

The account of former Puntland President Senator Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud Farole was also removed at the time and, according to information available to Garowe Online, has yet to be restored to its owner.

One of the more unusual methods involved reporting living people to Facebook as dead. Reports in 2024 said fraudulent death documents were even used in attempts to persuade Meta’s systems to convert accounts into memorialised profiles.

Fake copyright claims have also emerged repeatedly as a method of targeting Somali media.

An investigation published by SJS on August 30, 2026 documented copyright claims, content takedowns and restrictions affecting Somali journalists and media outlets. SJS said the attacks intensified amid political disputes between the federal government and other political actors, including Puntland.

The organisation documented cases in which media outlets said copyright claims were filed against videos and reports they had produced themselves, including political speeches and footage involving public officials.

Garowe Online has also faced repeated copyright claims, including against videos the organisation says were recorded by its own journalists.

According to the SJS investigation, some claims originated from individuals or pages with no apparent connection to the material over which they asserted copyright ownership.

SJS also said it covertly contacted an individual using the name “The Odyssey”, who allegedly demanded $5,000 to file a disputed copyright claim against a media organisation.

The group documented allegations by journalists that individuals or institutions linked to the government had participated in mass reporting and efforts to restrict content. Some of those allegations have been denied, while others have not been independently verified.

SJS cited a former employee of the Ministry of Information who said names of journalists and content were submitted to the Ministry of Information and the National Communications Authority.

A former Ministry of Information official confirmed to SJS that his department had maintained a working relationship with Meta but denied that it was used to censor media. He said the cooperation had instead helped restore accounts that were wrongly suspended.

There is no independently verified evidence establishing that Somalia’s federal government was responsible for all of the incidents targeting politicians, journalists and media organisations.

The latest cases also come as the federal government expands strategic communications cooperation with Türkiye and China. SJS has called on the government to disclose the nature and scope of those arrangements and provide assurances that they will not be used to suppress or intimidate journalists.

No evidence has been presented showing that the Turkish government itself removed the Facebook accounts or submitted fake copyright claims.

Meta, meanwhile, expanded its Meta AI Support Assistant in March 2026, designed to help users resolve account problems, understand why content was removed and navigate appeals.

The company says AI can provide round-the-clock assistance, while human reviewers continue to play an important role in sensitive decisions, including some appeals against account disablements.

For Somalia, however, the recurring incidents raise a broader question: when an automated system mistakenly treats a living journalist as dead or accepts a fraudulent copyright claim, how can the affected person quickly obtain meaningful human review?

Facebook is more than a social networking platform in Somalia. It is a major channel through which millions of Somalis receive news, political leaders communicate with the public and independent media reach audiences at home and abroad.

The removal of the account of a president, lawmaker, minister, politician or journalist therefore goes beyond a technical platform dispute. It can directly affect political expression, press freedom and the public’s access to competing viewpoints.

Questions remain over who is filing fraudulent death reports and fake copyright claims, and why Meta’s systems have repeatedly allowed such methods to affect Somali accounts.

Meta faces calls to explain how its systems prevent such abuse and how Somali users can access human review when automated enforcement fails. The federal government also faces calls to disclose the nature of its institutional relationship with Meta and the procedures used for requests concerning accounts and online content.

The incidents recorded in 2024 never received a comprehensive public explanation. In 2026, similar tactics have surfaced again.

There is currently no independently verified evidence showing that all of these incidents originated from a single actor or directive — underscoring calls for an independent investigation.

GAROWE ONLINE