(AFP dispatch)
Mali's High Authority for Communication (HAC) has suspended French channels LCI and TF1, accusing them of "unverified claims and falsehoods" relating to jihadists in the Sahelian country, according to a decision seen by AFP on Friday
.The services of LCI and TF1 television channels are withdrawn from the packages of all radio and television broadcast service distributors in Mali, until further notice, as of the date of signature of this decision" by the HAC dated Thursday.
LCI and TF1 have not been accessible in Mali since Thursday evening, an AFP journalist noted.
Mali, ruled by a military regime following coups between 2020 and 2022, has taken repressive measures against the press, suspended access to or broadcasting of several media outlets—particularly foreign ones—and silenced or imprisoned journalists and other critical voices.
Correspondents from a number of foreign media outlets have been forced to leave, go into exile, or remain silent due to a lack of work permits.
According to the HAC, LCI broadcast a "12.24-minute clip from the program 'Grand Dossier' on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., structured in two parts: "Mali, jihadists at the gates of Bamako" and "Mali, the new stronghold of Al-Qaeda+."
This sequence was "reposted by TF1 on its website" the same day, according to the HAC.
However, according to Mali's media regulator, it contains "unverified statements and falsehoods" relating in particular to allegations that "the junta has banned the sale of fuel" and that "terrorists are now close to taking the capital" Bamako.
It considers that these statements, which it condemns, are "in flagrant violation of the code of ethics for journalists in Mali, which requires them to respect the truth."
The sequence in question presents "an alarmist tone that predicts the imminent collapse of the Malian state, all of which causes panic or mistrust of institutions and (undermines) social cohesion," argues the HAC.
LCI "was suspended at the end of August 2024 for violations similar" to the new charges, which, according to the HAC, constitutes "an aggravating circumstance."
The French public channel France 2 was also temporarily suspended in early 2024. Both suspensions at the end of August and early August have since been lifted.
And the French-language generalist channel TV5 Monde was suspended in mid-May "until further notice" after the military accused it of a lack of impartiality in its coverage of an opposition demonstration. It had already been suspended for three months by the junta in 2024.
Several French media outlets, such as France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI), which are widely followed in Mali, have been permanently suspended.
The military, which overthrew civilian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in 2020, broke its alliance with France and its European partners in 2022 to turn militarily and politically toward Moscow.