Journalists and the media are being subjected to increasing violence by politicians and supporters in sub-Saharan Africa during electoral campaigns, reported today the non-governmental organization (NGO) Reporters without Borders (RSF).More than 8 percent of African countries are now marked in red in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published today by the non-governmental organization, double the number recorded in 2023. RSF highlights Nigeria, where around 20 journalists were attacked in early 2023, despite the country rising 11 places to 112th, and Madagascar (100th), where ten journalists were targeted during pre-election protests. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (123rd), the detention of journalist Stanis Bujakera, awaiting trial on a trumped-up charge, is given as an example of politicians’ frequent attempts to intimidate the media. In other cases, the NGO highlighted, politicians try to instrumentalize social communication by creating their own means, as in Senegal (94th), DRCongo and Nigeria, or, in the case of Togo, they used regulators to take “arbitrary and disproportionate attacks against journalists and employers.Zimbabwe (116th place), Gabon (56th) and Guinea-Conakry (78th) rose in the Index, but RSF says that the political authorities in these countries have tightened control over news and information in the run-up to elections, arbitrarily shutting down the Internet, expelling foreign journalists or interfering with radio and television broadcasts. Restrictions are often extended to foreign media outlets, as several Sahel countries have done to foreign media outlets, particularly French channels, such as France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde. Niger (80th place), Burkina Faso (86th) and Mali (114th) fell in the Index as a result of the measures adopted by the military junta that took power through coups d’état to obstruct the work of journalists. In North Africa, journalists who criticize the maintenance of the President of Tunisia (118th), in power since 2019, were detained and interrogated, similar to what happened before the 2010/11 revolution. RSF praised improvements in Tanzania (97th place ), which rose 46 positions, and in Mauritania (33rd). Morocco (129th) recorded an increase in the political indicator, but only due to the absence of new arrests, as the persecution of journalists, particularly in the courts, continues in that country .The World Press Freedom Index, published annually by Reporters without Borders, assesses conditions for journalism in 180 countries and territories. (RM-NM)Source:Rádio Moçambique Online
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