Between Disinformation & Interference: Africa Increasingly Distrusts French Media
17:56 08.06.2025 (Updated: 19:23 08.06.2025)
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Between Disinformation & Interference: Africa Increasingly Distrusts French Media, Pt. 1
In Mali, the French-language channel TV5 Monde was suspended in May "until further notice."
The reason cited was the broadcast of an "unbalanced" report about protests by political activists in Bamako, mobilized against the cancellation of a planned rally.
This is not the first media outlet sanctioned by the Malian authorities.
In 2022, French public media outlets RFI and France 24 were permanently suspended for:
failure to comply with the principles of ethics and professional conduct,
failure to respect pluralism and a balanced viewpoint,
bias in its coverage of acts of war.
LCI was temporarily suspended in 2024 for "apology for terrorism" and "incitement to destabilization."
Bamako is facing disinformation aimed at "mind control," which can even be expressed through traditional media outlets that generally have a certain credibility, the Malian FM lamented in 2023.
This disinformation serves to perpetuate hegemonic policies, Abdoulaye Diop noted.
In Mali, the French-language channel TV5 Monde was suspended in May "until further notice."
The reason cited was the broadcast of an "unbalanced" report about protests by political activists in Bamako, mobilized against the cancellation of a planned rally.
This is not the first media outlet sanctioned by the Malian authorities.
In 2022, French public media outlets RFI and France 24 were permanently suspended for:
failure to comply with the principles of ethics and professional conduct,
failure to respect pluralism and a balanced viewpoint,
bias in its coverage of acts of war.
LCI was temporarily suspended in 2024 for "apology for terrorism" and "incitement to destabilization."
Bamako is facing disinformation aimed at "mind control," which can even be expressed through traditional media outlets that generally have a certain credibility, the Malian FM lamented in 2023.
This disinformation serves to perpetuate hegemonic policies, Abdoulaye Diop noted.
"Sidetracking bordering on disinformation" was the reason that led Burkina Faso to suspend the TV5 Monde news channel for six months after the broadcast of a program regarding the security situation in the country.
The French media are trying to "sow confusion" and "create unrest" in Burkina; they are "unreliable," the Burkinabe PM declared in June 2024. The efforts of "imperialist media like France 24, RFI, TV5 Monde, and Jeune Afrique" could promote "the intervention of their masters to put an end to this regime," added Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélèm de Tambèla.
He recalled that the same method was used shortly before the assassination of President Thomas Sankara in 1987.
More specific measures by African authorities have targeted several programs, particularly in Burkina Faso.
The Canal+ reality show "Who Wants to Marry My Son?" was banned last March, as was the show "The Bachelor" before it.
Both were deemed "contrary to fundamental values and national culture."
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