As in 2023, news media faced increasing pressure in 2024 in the Sahel countries, but also in other countries in West and Central Africa. Suspensions, temporary bans, and administrative constraints limit their ability to report freely and undermine their operations.
In the three Sahel countries—Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—news media outlets are facing unprecedented and repeated restrictions. The list of sanctioned media outlets is long: France 24 was banned from Burkina Faso for three months at the beginning of the year, then in April 2024, the Burkinabe authorities suspended the TV channel TV5Monde and access to its website, as well as six other international media outlets: Deutsche Welle, Ouest-France, Le Monde, APA news, The Guardian, and Agence Ecofin.
LCI was suspended for two months in Mali last August, while TV5 Monde was suspended for six months in Burkina Faso and for three months in Mali (suspensions that ended in December 2024). In October, it was Voice of America's turn to be suspended for three months.
The most serious sanction concerns Joliba TV, which was banned in Mali in November following a complaint from Burkina Faso. Although the sanction was subsequently "reduced" to a six-month suspension, the private channel's revenue is in mortal danger.
The latest sanction concerns BBC Radio, which was suspended for three months in Niger at the end of December 2024.
Each time, the reason given concerns a version of events that does not correspond to the official account given by the authorities.
Media under control beyond the Sahel
However, in 2024, these actions against the news media did not only affect the Sahel or international media outlets alone.
In Cameroon, the private channel Équinoxe Télévision, whose critical programs are widely watched, has had to suspend several flagship shows under pressure from the authorities.
In Senegal, Walf TV was suspended "indefinitely" during the presidential election at the beginning of the year, but was quickly reinstated following numerous protests from the local press.
In addition, a "day without newspapers" in August 2024 highlighted the new fiscal and economic measures imposed by the authorities, which were perceived as a threat to the survival of local newspapers. This mobilization highlights the structural fragility of Senegal's private media, which are facing growing financial challenges due to the development of digital technology.
In Gabon, during the presidential elections, international media outlets such as France 24, TV5 Monde, and RFI were suspended for a period of time for "lack of objectivity."
Surviving despite censorship
The impact of these bans and their consequences on the finances—and therefore the survival—of the media outlets concerned depends largely on the funding model and structure of the various media outlets:
The suspension of international media outlets supported by their governments, such as France 24, RFI, BBC News, Voice of America, and TV5 Monde, although impacting their local broadcasting, does not affect their long-term viability. These channels have solid funding and structures that operate outside local jurisdictions.
Similarly, private media outlets such as LCI, Ouest France, and Le Monde are also largely unaffected by these bans, as their audience in Africa remains limited to elites and expatriates.
Ultimately, those most affected by this relentless pressure are private pan-African or national media outlets whose sole means of subsistence are advertising and/or sales (single copies or subscriptions) at the local level or, more rarely, at the pan-African level.
They must constantly juggle between respecting their editorial line—since they are funded and appreciated by consumers for this reason—and the sword of Damocles wielded by the powers that be, who can destabilize them at any moment, as in the case of JOLIBA TV in Mali, whose existence is under threat.
These are both the most threatened media outlets, as they are the most financially fragile, and those that demonstrate the greatest "balance," if not self-censorship, in a constant attempt to reconcile independence with economic survival.
A persistent paradox: traditional media and social networks
Restrictions imposed on traditional media contrast with the lack of regulation on social media, where misinformation proliferates unchecked. In countries where audience data remains scarce, public authorities primarily target traditional media, which is often less influential than social media. Drastic measures, such as outright Internet shutdowns, have nevertheless been used on a few occasions at the height of tensions generally linked to elections, but this remains rare.