“Stop wasting time on TikTok”: Diomaye Faye’s message to young Senegalese

The setting was formal, the message very direct. On Tuesday 29 September, at the Doudou Ndiaye Coumba Rose National Grand Theatre, Bassirou Diomaye Faye installed the Youth Advisory Council of Senegal (CCJS), a body created by decree in December 2025 to involve young people in public decisions. Yet a good part of his speech dealt with something else entirely: the phone.

« We must tell you to stop TikTok, Telegram and Instagram because they really are time-consuming, they take up your time and they do not replace knowledge (our translation). »

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 29 September 2026, according to Senego

The president immediately added a nuance: these apps remain useful when you know what you are looking for, not when they merely fill time. He also took aim at the way people talk to each other there, noting that it has become common to “hide behind a phone” to say things one would never dare say in person. He asked young people for “patience, listening and teaching” (our translation).

A young and increasingly connected country

The issue concerns a large part of the country. According to DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report, Senegal has about 19 million inhabitants, with a median age of 19.6. At the end of 2025, 11.5 million people were using the internet, or 60.6% of the population.

The same report counts 5.42 million social media accounts. YouTube reaches as many people, Facebook 3.6 million and Instagram 1.45 million. TikTok is not included, as the platform publishes no figures for Senegal. These totals are advertising estimates: one person may hold several accounts, and the youngest users are not always counted.

A call that set… social media alight

The message was general. But it comes at a tense political moment, marked by the split between the head of state and Ousmane Sonko, dismissed as Prime Minister in May. According to Senenews, many Pastef activists and supporters saw it as a reference to the criticism the president has faced online for months. Several reminded him that the “patriot” camp, himself included, relied heavily on social media when it was in opposition.

Others backed him. Journalist Pape Alé Niang, himself recently targeted, praised a “very important” message and advised victims of online attacks to answer with “contemptuous silence” (our translation). A paradox noted by several observers: a call for restraint online mostly got people talking… online.

Not just consuming, but building

The speech did not stop at screen time. The president urged young people not to remain mere users of artificial intelligence, and to develop AI in national languages, designed for the country’s needs. He also asked CCJS members for opinions that are “precise, costed and workable” (our translation) on jobs, training and digital skills.

That leaves the real question, which the speech raises without settling: should people leave TikTok or Instagram, or change what they do there? The same apps are also used to learn, to sell or to get noticed. What matters is how much time people leave there and what they get out of it.