Online media journalists in Chad are expressing dissatisfaction and disappointment at the authorities’ refusal to lift the ban on the broadcast of audiovisual content. The High Media and Audiovisual Authority, or HAMA, accuses journalists of reposting videos without the permission of content creators, but journalists say they are being silenced from reporting on important election issues.
Journalists reporting for online media platforms say they are surprised that Chad’s High Media and Audiovisual Authority, or HAMA, has refused to respect a December 20 Supreme Court ruling banning the transmission of online media content. An order has been given to end the ban immediately.
Bello Bakary Mana, president of the Online Media Association of Chad, Mana, took part in a protest in N’Djamena on Tuesday against what he calls a deliberate attempt by HAMA to silence Chad’s online media.
Mana said several hundred online reporters, assisted by local radio, print and TV journalists, are in N’Djamena to tell the world that the media is being silenced in Chad. “They will continue to protest until HAMA stops threatening journalists and lifts its illegal ban imposed on December 4 on the broadcasting of online audiovisual material,” he said.
Bello, who spoke to VOA from N’Djamena via a messaging app, also said that only the police can force HAMA to respect the lifting of the ban on the broadcast of audiovisual material online, but the police is controlled by the government, which ordered the ban. ,
HAMA says it has banned online newspapers from broadcasting audiovisual content after several newspapers banned it earlier this year from reposting videos from foreign sources, including international media outlets, without permission from the author or media outlets. Had refused to comply with a stop order, as required by law.
Journalists say the decision taken ahead of the December 29 elections to end Chad’s three-year transitional period is a sign that the government, through HAMA, wants to silence online media that the government described as highly critical Is.
HAMA has always complained that online media regularly publish inauthentic information about President Mahamat Idriss Déby.
Déby became transitional president of Chad in April 2021 after his father, Idris Déby Itno, was killed in a gun battle with rebels after 30 years in power.
Déby was declared the winner of the presidential elections held on 6 May in Chad, amid allegations from the opposition and civil society that the victory was stolen.
According to local media, government officials in Chad complained after the presidential election that online media were posting reports and videos of opposition and civil society members saying that Déby wanted to continue his late father’s rule. .
Journalists in Chad say that by banning online audiovisual content, HAMA seeks to silence online media that are reporting that Déby’s Patriotic Liberation Movement, or MPS, is seeking to tighten its grip on power at all costs. Wants to use elections for.
Abderrahmane Barka, president of HAMA, created by Chad’s government to regulate media in the central African state, says Chad’s High Media and Audiovisual Authority observed that ahead of elections, wealthy politicians were hiring media organizations to broadcast campaign messages. appoint, and it turns out it’s a disadvantage for politicians who don’t have a lot of money. He says HAMA is strengthening the law that requires media to give equal access without payment to all political parties participating in elections.
Barka said this on state TV on Tuesday. He said Chadian laws do not allow online newspapers to broadcast audiovisual content, but he did not comment on whether the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the ban would be respected.
Online journalists in Chad say the ban has affected about 60% of their audience who no longer have access to online media. They say they are surprised that HAMA has also ordered them to stop broadcasting locally produced audiovisual content.
Before the ban and the 29 December elections, HAMA suspended all interactive online, radio and TV programs, arguing that the media did not have sufficient human resources to produce such programs during the election period – The media denies this claim.
Last week, Reporters Without Borders called on Chad to reverse its decision and lift the ban. The media rights group says HAMA’s job is not to prevent media from informing, educating and entertaining their audiences, but to regulate them.
RSF believes that broadcasting content without the consent of producers is wrong and has called on Chad to allow online journalists to broadcast local content they create.