On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, Burkina Faso suspended the French broadcaster TV5 for six months, citing “disinformation,” according to authorities. The communications regulator (CSC) accused TV5 of spreading “malicious insinuations” and “disinformation” regarding the country’s transitional government.
This suspension follows earlier actions by the CSC against other international media outlets, including the French newspaper Le Monde, the British publication The Guardian, and the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). In addition to the suspension, TV5 was fined 50 million CFA francs ($82,000).
The CSC specifically criticized TV5 for hosting Newton Ahmed Barry, a critic of the military regime and former head of the election commission from 2014 to 2021. TV5 had already faced a two-week suspension on April 28 after airing a Human Rights Watch report that accused the military of killing civilians.
Since Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in a coup in September 2022, several foreign news outlets, predominantly French, have been temporarily or indefinitely shut down in Burkina Faso.
