Digital Crackdown in Algeria: Top Global Petition Platforms Blocked Nationwide

A COSYFOP Field Investigation Reveals Algeria’s Digital Strangulation of Free Expression in the Age of Online Activism

Amid the ongoing political and social shifts in Algeria, a deeply troubling trend has emerged: a growing clampdown on public freedoms and human rights—now extending into the digital sphere. It is now certain that two of the world’s leading petition platforms, Change.org and Avaaz.org, are subject to undeclared censorship inside the country.

These findings are based on a direct field investigation conducted by the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) across Algerian territory, with the involvement of union members from various provinces. The investigation confirmed beyond any doubt that the platforms Change.org andAvaaz.org  Completely blocked from within Algeria.

Over two hundred union members across multiple provinces tested access to both websites using every available internet service provider in the country—without exception. The result was unanimous: neither platform could be accessed at all. This total blockage clearly demonstrates that the issue is not a technical glitch or partial restriction, but rather a deliberate and systematic policy to suppress digital tools of mobilization.

Both Change.org and Avaaz enable citizens or organizations to launch online campaigns to demand their rights, support just causes, or even hold officials accountable. In a country where independent unions are suppressed, arbitrary trials are conducted, and peaceful demonstrations are banned, these platforms become dangerous tools for the authorities because they give citizens a collective voice that is difficult to silence.

Instead of addressing these legitimate demands, the Algerian government has opted for censorship and digital repression—an outright violation of citizens’ rights to freedom of expression, political participation, and collective organization, as enshrined in international instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the conventions of the International Labour Organization.

COSYFOP’s Response to the Blockade

This censorship does not only affect the domestic sphere; it also prevents Algerian organizations from accessing international support and digital solidarity. Most global solidarity campaigns are built on these platforms, and blocking them makes it significantly harder to amplify the voices of political and trade union detainees.

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) recently found itself unable to launch an online campaign on any of these major platforms to support its fellow unionist, Ali Maamri, who has been unjustly detained on serious terrorism-related charges—solely for his peaceful and legitimate trade union activities. In the absence of secure and effective domestic platforms for digital mobilization, solidarity efforts are reduced to mere statements, lacking the reach and pressure needed to influence public or institutional responses.

In this regard, it must be emphasized that the blockade is not merely technical—it is accompanied by a broader climate of legal intimidation. This includes the arrest of activists over social media posts, prosecutions on charges of “spreading false information,” and the systematic targeting of anyone who dares to express dissent outside state-controlled channels. In such a context, using online petition platforms becomes an act of resistance, and simply signing a petition may be interpreted as incitement.

The Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) strongly condemns this digital blackout and considers the blocking of these platforms a direct attack on the right to organize, the freedom of expression, and the right to use peaceful means to defend fundamental rights. COSYFOP calls on all national and international human rights organizations to stand in solidarity with the silenced voices of Algeria and to exert meaningful pressure to lift this digital siege.

Urgent Appeal to Human Rights Organizations and the UN High Commissioner’s Mechanisms

In an era where digital networks have become essential platforms for civil activism, the blocking of mobilization tools amounts to the suppression of digital protest and the systematic denial of citizens’ access to modern forms of expression. For this reason, the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP) issues an urgent appeal to international human rights organizations, global trade union federations, and the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the situation of human rights defenders. We call on them to take immediate action by launching independent field investigations into this systematic censorship, and to publicly denounce the undemocratic practices adopted by the Algerian state in its treatment of the digital space and citizens’ right to organize and mobilize peacefully.

International silence in the face of these digital violations amounts to tacit encouragement for continued repression and silencing of dissent. It undermines any prospect of building a state governed by the rule of law and committed to its international obligations.