The National Communications Institute of Mozambique (INCM) now has the power to block telecommunications in cases of “imminent risk to public or state security,” according to new legislation cited in a publication by the Lusa news agency.
“In cases where it is determined that there is an imminent risk to public safety, the state, people, and property, or a risk to the availability of services caused by adverse and/or criminal situations, the regulatory authority may issue an order for partial or total blocking by means of a court order,” reads Decree 48/2025 of the Council of Ministers.
This is a revision of the 2023 legislation approving the “Telecommunications Traffic Control Regulation” to strengthen its effectiveness and suitability for current technological and security challenges.
The amendment, in force since December, comes after several telecommunications blackouts in Mozambique, particularly on social media, during the demonstrations that followed the October 2024 general elections, which left more than 400 people dead and resulted in the destruction and looting of businesses and public property.
The new regulation emphasizes that the suspension and blocking of traffic “are preventive measures” to mitigate risks and that “they may be total, partial, or applied specifically to one or more subscribers, devices, or service providers.”
The INCM, as regulator, “may order the immediate suspension of telecommunications services if it finds or suspects the existence or imminent risk of fraud through the misuse of telecommunications systems to the detriment of operators, consumers, or the State, while the investigation is ongoing, but such a measure must be subject to subsequent judicial validation.”
“The suspension of traffic may be carried out directly by the operator, in the case of manifestly fraudulent traffic identified by its own network, and must be reported to the regulatory authority within a maximum of 24 hours, with the respective technical justification and evidence,” it adds.
The amendment aims to “monitor telecommunications traffic to ensure greater security in the services provided through telecommunications networks and to protect the public interest, public safety, and the State, in addition to protecting the interests of licensed telecommunications operators and users.”
The regulation defines that the INCM’s powers include “controlling telecommunications traffic, except on private networks, acquiring, installing, operating, and maintaining the equipment and systems necessary for such control, supervising and auditing operators’ networks, and suspending telecommunications services when fraud is verified or presumed to exist or be imminent.”
The document also requires operators to allow the regulator to install and maintain the necessary equipment on their premises, and to contribute part of their monthly revenue to the implementation of the telecommunications traffic control system. “The fines to be imposed amount to 3,500 minimum wages, with 60% of the revenue going to the State Budget and 40% to the INCM,” it concludes.
