Chad - October 2024

On 9 October, the president of Chad’s media regulator, the High Authority for Media and Broadcasting (La Haute Autorité des Médias et de l’Audiovisuel, HAMA), Abderamane Barka, announced a directive prohibiting private media from publishing online audio-visual content outside of narrowly defined circumstances. Barka said outlets that violated these regulations would be suspended or have their licenses revoked. He added that outlets had to employ professional journalists with official press ID cards. The measures were presented as being part of a ‘cleaning up of the media landscape’ ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for 29 December. On 4 October, HAMA suspended Le Visionnaire newspaper over an article it published on alleged government corruption and suspended two senior members of its staff because they did not have press identity cards. The Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO, accused the Chadian authorities of ‘using press accreditation as an instrument of censorship.’ 

Sources: La Haute Autorité des Médias et de l’Audiovisuel, Jeune Afrique, Committee to Protect Journalists (1), Committee to Protect Journalists (2), Tchadinfos