Somalia orders ban on TikTok, Telegram

logo tiktok

A man shows a smartphone with the logo of social network TikTok. PHOTO | AFP

Somalia's government announced Sunday a ban on social media platforms TikTok and Telegram and an online betting app, saying they were being used by "terrorists" to spread propaganda.

The move comes ahead of a much anticipated second phase of a military offensive against Al Shabaab, the Islamist militant group that has been waging a bloody insurgency against the central government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.