BBC banned in African country for spreading ‘fake news’

Niger’s media regulator has ordered the suspension of the British state broadcaster’s programmes for three months, with immediate effect.

Niger has suspended BBC programming, accusing the British state broadcaster of spreading false information that could destabilize the West African country, which has struggled to combat a decade-long lethal jihadist insurgency.

The move on Thursday adds the BBC to a growing list of Western media agencies sanctioned by the Nigerien military government and its allies in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali in recent years.

State-owned outlet ANP published a letter from the African state’s media regulator, ordering local press groups affiliated with the British state broadcaster to “suspend, with immediate effect,” the channel’s programs across the country for three months.

The Nigerien communications ministry said the outlet has aired “erroneous information tending to destabilize social tranquility and undermine the morale of the troops.”

The authorities failed to mention any specific broadcast that prompted their decision. However, on Wednesday, several Western outlets reported that jihadists had killed 90 soldiers and at least 40 civilians in Chatoumane in Niger’s Tera region near Burkina Faso.

Niger’s leadership denied the attack had occurred, labeling the reports “baseless assertions” and a “campaign of intoxication.”

Since taking control of Niamey in a coup in July 2023, Niger’s military regime has pursued punitive measures against news organizations whose content it claims threatens the country’s sovereignty.

Two French state broadcasters, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France 24, have been banned in Niger since August 2023 for similar reasons. Last month, the landlocked state barred the French channel Canal Plus from airing a romance-themed television show, arguing that it undermined the country’s values.

On Thursday evening, the military authorities said they were “filing a complaint” against RFI for being the “propaganda tool of France’s foreign policy” and “an instrument of incitement to massacre and genocide” on Nigerien territory.

“A vast disinformation campaign is orchestrated by Radio France Internationale in a crude and shameful montage with genocidal overtones,” according to a government press release.

French-language channel TV5 Monde has also faced temporary suspension in Burkina Faso and Mali for alleged biased reporting and disinformation in violation of regulatory laws.

In April, the Burkinabe government temporarily banned radio broadcasts of British state channel BBC Africa and US state-run Voice of America (VOA) for covering a Human Rights Watch report accusing the national army of mass execution. The French newspapers Le Monde and Ouest-France, the British newspaper The Guardian, and the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) have all had their websites blocked “until further notice.”

Image credit: David Gallie