African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
Africa InsidersSociety
Home›African Arguments›Africa Insiders›Insiders Insight: Why strongmen like jailing journos on “fake news” charges

Insiders Insight: Why strongmen like jailing journos on “fake news” charges

By Africa Insiders
December 20, 2018
1665
0
Africa press freedom: Of 61 journalists imprisoned in Africa, 25 are in Egypt. Credit: Hossam el-Hamalawy.
Africa press freedom: Of 61 journalists imprisoned in Africa, 25 are in Egypt. Credit: Hossam el-Hamalawy.

Of 61 journalists imprisoned in Africa, 25 are in Egypt. Credit: Hossam el-Hamalawy.

If you haven’t subscribed to the Insiders Newsletter, you’re missing out on the juiciest insights from our top journalists and analysts. To subscribe, click HERE. It only takes as moment.

Below is a list of the sections that you’re missing out on, but below that there’s a preview section to whet your appetite.


  • Donald Trump’s new Africa strategy…
  • The worsening Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo…
  • Our chart of the week on corruption perception in the Gambia…
  • A report of the week on increasing violence in the Sudanese borderlands…
  • Our weekly Election Watch newsletter, published each Friday…
  • Links to many excellent articles from around the internet…

SUBSCRIBE NOW


Why strongmen like jailing journos on “fake news” charges

According to the yearly report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 61 members of the press are imprisoned across Africa. The most prolific jailer on the continent is Egypt, where 25 journalists are behind bars, followed by Eritrea with 16. Nine African countries who have jailed at least one journalist.

In another example that rhetoric has consequences, “fake news” has become the charge of choice for repressive African governments to silence critical reporters. The majority of jailed journalists are charged with this ill-defined crime, with governments in Egypt, Rwanda and Cameroon taking a particular liking to it.

The attractiveness of the “fake news” charge is obvious: US President Donald Trump has popularised the allegation, together with his branding of the press as the “enemy of the people”. All countries that employ the charge closely cooperate with the US security establishment and probably see the rhetorical alignment with Trump as a way to insulate themselves from diplomatic fallout over the arrests.

Eight journalists were killed in African countries in 2018. In four cases, the motive was related to their work, including the murder of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic.

One of the few bright spots is Ethiopia: in the wake of wide-ranging political reforms under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, all journalists were released from jail. This marks the first time since 2004 that the CPJ hasn’t listed a member of the press being imprisoned in Ethiopia.

  • Overview of the yearly CPJ report
  • Visual database of all jailed journalists
  • For the first time in decades, there are no Ethiopian journalists in prison (Quartz Africa)
  • In Cameroon, journalists are being jailed on charges of ‘fake news’(Washington Post)

Compiled by  @PeterDoerrie

This week’s editorial team: @PeterDoerrie, @_andrew_green, @jamesjwan


To get the full newsletter every week, subscribe now: SUBSCRIBE NOW

Previous Article

Eritrea’s “state of uncertainty”: Senior government sources ...

Next Article

Insiders Insight: Threats to Sudan’s Bashir from ...

mm

Africa Insiders

The Africa Insiders Newsletter is a weekly newsletter brought to you by African Arguments. Written by leading journalists and analysts, it it made up of snappy, insightful updates on the major developments that have hit the week's headlines, and those that should've.

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Politics

    Good neighbours? Rwanda’s strategies to defend its interests in Congo – By Kris Berwouts

  • Politics

    Mo Ibrahim Prize 2013: and the winner is…Afro-realism – By Magnus Taylor

  • Politics

    Ebola in Sierra Leone: News from the Frontline – By Peter Penfold

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter


  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • We’ve already breached most of the Earth’s limits. How can we get back?
  • Africa’s topsy-turvy food paradox
  • Zambia: The president’s five-point plan to stay in power at all costs
  • The two defining challenges facing South Africa
  • ‘Don’t Agonize, Organize!’ Remembering Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s Advocacy on Sudan

Editor’s Picks

ClimateEditor's PicksKenyaTanzania

“My house is crumbling”: Living in limbo along the East Africa pipeline

People along the route of the proposed 1,443 km oil pipeline talk of confusion, uncertainty and lives on hold. Following the recent signing of accords, the construction of a hugely ...
  • ongwen wives uganda LRA

    “We need to stick together”: Meet the family made up of Ongwen’s ex-wives

    By John Okot
    June 15, 2021
  • Ella Baker addressing a convention in 1964.

    Thinking radically in Africa must start with political education

    By Nanjala Nyabola
    October 12, 2021
  • On the campaign trail with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. Credit: Uhuru Kenyatta.

    Siasa na Kusengenyana (aka When Kenyan politicians switch from English)

    By Nanjala Nyabola
    October 3, 2017
  • International-Womens-Rights-Day-on-8-March-2023-in-Cibitoke-Province-northwest-of-Burundi

    Burundi’s growing femicide problem

    By Lorraine Josiane Manishatse
    April 4, 2023

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.