Sudan: End the suspension of WhatsApp voice and video calls
Image Credit: r.classen/ Shutter Stock
30 September 2025: PEN International is joining a coalition of human rights organisations denouncing the Sudanese authorities’ ongoing restrictions on digital communications, including the blocking of WhatsApp voice and video calls. At a time when millions face war, mass displacement, and a collapsing infrastructure, cutting access to secure communication tools puts lives at even greater risk. Together, we call for the immediate restoration of full internet access, an end to digital repression, and urgent international action to ensure that civilians and humanitarian actors can communicate safely, document abuses, and deliver life-saving assistance.
Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country has been experiencing the world’s worst protection and humanitarian crisis. More than 150,000 people have been killed, and over 12 million displaced, making Sudan the largest forced displacement crisis in the world. An estimated 25 million people — nearly half of Sudan’s population — are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance amid the near-total collapse of basic services. Deepening this crisis are frequent internet shutdowns imposed by the warring parties and recent platform restrictions imposed by the authorities, including the blocking of WhatsApp voice and video calls, making Sudan’s crisis not only a “forgotten war,” but a deliberately silenced one.
We, the undersigned civil society organisations and humanitarian actors, call on the international community to urgently address the physical and cyber threats people are experiencing in Sudan, and to ensure they have access to secure and reliable internet and digital communication tools, which are essential for survival, coordination, and an effective humanitarian response. We also call on the Sudanese Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority (TPRA) to immediately restore full access to WhatsApp voice and video call features.
Since the start of the conflict, the warring parties have weaponised telecommunications access and caused serious damage to the country’s infrastructure, restricting access to phone calls, text messages, and the internet. These disruptions have systematically curtailed civilians’ freedom of expression, access to information, and connection to the outside world.
On July 21, 2025, the TPRA announced that WhatsApp voice and video call features would be suspended from July 25 until further notice, citing “security concerns” and the need to protect the “higher interests of the state.” While text messaging and group chat features remain operational, this suspension represents a further escalation in Sudan’s telecommunications blackout, which has affected over 30 million people since February 2024.
The blocking of WhatsApp cannot be viewed in isolation. This decision is part of a deliberate and systematic pattern of digital repression, especially in areas such as West Darfur, South Kordofan, and conflict-affected areas of the capital, Khartoum, particularly during attacks or military operations. Since the start of the war, multiple prolonged episodes of shutdowns deepened the humanitarian crisis, including most notably a prolonged shutdown in February 2024, where RSF forces seized control over Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Khartoum, resulting in “nationwide, months-long disruptions.” Even as connectivity has been partially restored in some areas of the country under SAF control, most areas controlled by the RSF lack consistent internet connectivity through Sudan’s mobile network operators (MNOs).
These restrictions are used strategically to suppress civilian voices, compound their isolation, obstruct documentation of abuses, hinder humanitarian response and coordination, and prevent displaced families from communicating safely. Women and girls face compounded risks as shutdowns restrict access to life-saving health information, safe communication channels, and reporting mechanisms for gender-based violence. The blocking of WhatsApp at this critical juncture poses a direct threat to freedom of expression, the right to access information, and safe means of communication — especially amid war, mass displacement, and the collapse of formal institutions. Beyond freedom of expression, this measure undermines humanitarian response: it hinders coordination among aid actors, obstructs reporting of rights violations, and reduces the capacity to protect civilians, thereby exacerbating risks during armed conflict and compromising compliance with international obligations.
Alarmingly, this move may signal the beginning of wider policies aimed at further isolating people in Sudan from one another and from the outside world, potentially enabling more abuses away from scrutiny and accountability. Encrypted communication tools such as WhatsApp voice and video calls are vital lifelines for both civilians and aid actors, enabling secure coordination and documentation of rights violations.
Immediate action is needed to end Sudan’s isolation and communication restrictions. Continued shutdowns reinforce impunity, block avenues for accountability, and exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Ensuring secure and reliable access to digital communication is critical to civilian protection, documentation of abuses, and delivery of life-saving aid. We, therefore, urgently call on:
The TPRA to immediately reverse the suspension of WhatsApp voice and video calls and refrain from imposing any further restrictions on communications tools and platforms;
All parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to cease all restrictions on telecommunications access;
Mobile network operators and ISPs to ensure continuous access to secure communication channels;
The international community to support an independent assessment of damage to critical telecommunications infrastructure and the needs for restoration. This must include commitments by the warring parties for safe and secure passage for ISPs and telecommunications companies to conduct repair work; as well as support for the entry and installation of necessary Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment required for maintaining and/or repairing telecommunications systems; and
The international community, UN agencies, and humanitarian organizations publicly condemn these shutdowns and support alternative secure channels for civilians and aid workers.
Ensuring secure and reliable digital communication is a lifeline for the millions of people facing displacement, conflict, and a collapsing infrastructure. The global community must act now to prevent further harm and uphold the rights and dignity of all people in Sudan.
Signatories:
Access Now
Act for Sudan
Afia-Amani Grands-Lacs
Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation (AODIRF)
AfricTivistes
Alliance for Peacebuilding
Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression for Human Rights (AFTE)
Avaaz
Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE)
Computech Institute
Darfur Network for Human Rights
Darfur24
Digital Action
Gambia Press Union (GPU)
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security
Human Rights Consulting Group, Kazakhstan
Human Rights Journalist Network Nigeria
iACT
Imagined Spaces Initiative
INSM
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Internet Governance Tanzania Working Group (IGTWG)
JCA-NET(Japan)
Journal of Social Encounters
KICTANet
Kijiji Yeetu
Libya Crimes Watch (LCW)
Life campaign to abolish the death sentence in Kurdistan
Media Matters for Democracy, Pakistan
Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
Minnesota Peace Project
Mirror Arts CBO
Myanmar Internet Project
New Lines Institute
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Opening Central Africa Coalition
Organization of the Justice Campaign
PAEMA
Paradigm Initiative (PIN)
Pax Christi New York State
PEN America
PEN International
Protection Approaches
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
Salaa Media Centre
Sassoufit Collective
Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR)
SMEX
SMSWithoutBorders
Stop Genocide Now
Sudan Rights Watch Network
Sudan Unlimited
Sudanese Women Rights Action
TASSC International
Tech & Media Convergency (TMC)
The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
Women Empower and Mentor All CBO( WEmpower)
YODET
Youth Citizens Observers Network – YCON Sudan
Zaina Foundation