By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-12-15

The Houthis’ control over local telecommunications is undermining Yemen’s stability, experts say.

The group turned the sector into a revenue source to enrich leaders and fund its war, while using it for repression through monitoring calls and messages.

The Houthis took full control of the telecom sector, seizing SabaFon, MTN (now YOU Telecom), and key government institutions like PTC and Yemen Mobile.

Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis "use the telecommunications network to suppress citizens by spying on calls and messages."

Al-Eryani said in a July post on X that the telecom sector has become a "primary financial pipeline" for the Houthis’ war, operating without oversight.

Need for encrypted applications

"Encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Signal are now a necessity due to the Houthi militia's total control over the telecom infrastructure and companies," digital rights activist Fahmi al-Baheth told Al-Fassel.

He said this control allows the group to monitor and direct information, giving it political and security influence while turning the sector into a major revenue stream.

"Yemenis are going through the worst economic crisis while the group uses telecom revenues to finance its war operations, instead of funding salaries and basic services," he added.

The Houthis have turned telecommunications into a "tool of espionage," he said.

Al-Baheth pointed to reports of surveillance and wiretapping enabled by the group’s control over an unencrypted communications network, including the collection of call logs and geolocation tracking data.

Such practices have left Yemenis exposed and fearful, further emphasizing the need for secure communication channels.

Digital repression

"The Houthi militia's routine severance of telecom services has unfortunately become normalized," al-Baheth said.

Internet shutdowns are used "as a mechanism to control the flow of information, or to slow it, during airstrikes, protests, and major events," he said.

The group has also blocked the use of Starlink internet receivers, even though they are available in areas controlled by the legitimate government.

"The group is preventing outside communication methods to compel citizens to use its controlled networks, such as Yemen Mobile, which serves as a source of billions of riyals and a means of repression and espionage," Yemen’s Deputy Minister of Human Rights Nabil Abdul Hafeez told Al-Fassel.

Digital repression extends beyond infrastructure.

Political analyst Faisal Ahmed said the Houthis pressured residents in their areas to participate in the Madri [I don’t know] campaign, which instructed people not to provide information on target locations following US airstrikes on Sanaa in April.

"Anyone who violates the instructions is subject to arrest," Ahmed said.