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
Editor's PicksPoliticsTunisia
Home›African Arguments›Editor's Picks›Tunisia’s decree won’t stop fake news. It will stop free speech

Tunisia’s decree won’t stop fake news. It will stop free speech

By Ines El Jaibi
October 27, 2022
318
0
Tunisia fake news decree threatens free speech

President Saied is now threatening another of Tunisia’s hardest won freedoms.

Tunisia fake news decree threatens free speech

Journalists and rights organisations warn that free speech may be under threat in Tunisia. Credit: Michele Benericetti.

Following Tunisia’s revolution in 2011, which heralded uprisings across the Arab world, the country came to enjoy one of the most open media environments in the region. Journalism has thrived, with outlets able to scrutinise political leaders and critically discuss the direction of the nation. This, however, is now under grave threat.

Last month, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied issued a decree that imposes fines and jail time for the production and dissemination of “rumours and fake news”. Anyone found to “produce, promote, publish, transmit or prepare false news, statements, rumours or forged documents” can be jailed for up to five years, or up to ten if the target of misinformation is an official.

In a world increasingly destabilised by the spread of disinformation, this approach might seem laudable. In reality, it is the latest in a series of power grabs by an increasingly autocratic leader designed to smother free expression and remove mechanisms of accountability. Earlier this year, for instance, Saied’s government issued a circular that requires ministers to obtain permission from the Prime Minister’s office before communicating with the media, further interrupting the flow of information between journalists and officials.

Much of the threat posed by the new law lies in its language, which is notably vague – likely deliberately so. The decree does not offer any definition of expressions such as “public order”, “public security” or “rumours and fake news”. Such unclear legislation gives authorities wide interpretation of the crime and undue power to patrol free speech.

Even the confidentiality of correspondence, hitherto protected by the constitution, is imperilled. The human rights non-profit Euromed Monitor has observed that the decree “legalises the breaching and monitoring of individuals’ communications and data, robbing them of the right to maintain confidentiality…and grants authorities access to all of their private data”.

Imposing such punitive measures on a free press will scare potential sources into silence and curtail journalists’ ability to hold power accountable. Mehdi Jelassi, head of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, has described the information law as “a severe blow to the values of the revolution”. Reporters Without Borders condemned the decree as “draconian”, warning that it will create a climate of fear and self-censorship that will “facilitate the fake news this decree is supposed to combat”. Amnesty International has noted that another decree, issued this March, under the guise of preventing speculation on goods, would also impose jail sentences for anyone commenting negatively on government economic policy.

Is Tunisia still a democracy?

Major changes to Tunisia’s social and political life are now mere presidential announcements, rather than the product of a healthy, participatory democratic process. A decade after the revolution against the 30-year Ben Ali dictatorship, the country is again slipping into one-man rule. In 2021, Saied fired his Prime Minister, suspended parliament, and gave himself sweeping judicial powers including the ability to unilaterally rule by decree.

In an attempt to legitimise his self-coup last year, Saied drew up a new version of the constitution this year. A top Tunisian jurist who oversaw the draft would later disown it, stating that it had been altered to such an extent that it could pave way for a “disgraceful dictatorial regime”. Nevertheless, the draft was passed in a plebiscite despite an opposition boycott and a turnout of less than a third.

With such a clear intention to push Tunisia towards unilateral rule, it is no wonder that President Saied seeks to silence one of the region’s most thriving media spaces. There is, in principle, nothing wrong with countering misinformation and protecting individuals against libel and slander, but his decree does little more than give the government the ability to control the message.

According to Article 19, a freedom of expression organisation, there are several less restrictive measures the Saied regime could have taken if it genuinely wanted to combat fake news. These include “the promotion of independent fact-checking mechanisms, state support for independent, diversified public service media, and education and media literacy”. The authorities have chosen not to engage with any of these options.

Instead, they have opted for the most authoritarian approach and, even before Saied’s announcement, were prosecuting Ghazi Chaouachi, Secretary General of the opposition Al Tayar Al Dimocrati, on charges of spreading rumours after he criticised the prime minister on a radio show. The new decree enshrines into law these rising crackdowns on free speech and persecution of opposition figures.

It is not unusual to seek to change a political system, but the kind of unilateral, undemocratic decrees mandated by President Saied in the last year are morphing the system beyond all recognition. We have reached the point where we must ask: is Tunisia still a democracy? The sad answer is that it looks less like one with every passing day. And things will only get worse if the international community stands by, if Tunisian civil society’s efforts come to naught, and if Saied is allowed to ride roughshod over one of Tunisia’s hardest-won freedoms.

Previous Article

The ANC’s power games have led it ...

Next Article

Of sunken states and ballet nights: Prize-winning ...

img-3

Ines El Jaibi

Ines El Jaibi is a Tunisian lawyer and human rights activist. She is a Board Member of Tunisia’s Hope Makers Association, a youth-led organisation that was set up in 2020 to spread democratic principles in Tunisia and encourage citizens’ engagement in public affairs. She is also the Director of Political Lab 117 Initiative, a programme set up by the Hope Makers Association following Kais Saeid’s declaration of a state of emergency on 25 July 2021. Its purpose is to provide political analysis over Saied’s policies post July 25th and evaluate their impact on democracy and human rights.

Leave a reply

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

  • Politics

    Association of Concerned Africa Scholars addresses risks of KONY2012 campaign and military solutions

  • img-4
    Politics

    Dominic Ongwen: born at the time of the white ant, tried by the ICC – By Thijs B. Bouwknegt

  • img-5
    Politics

    Southern African Implications of The Marikana Lonmin Mineworkers Shooting Tragedy — by Takura Zhangazha

Subscribe to our newsletter

Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and never miss a thing!

  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • Djibouti fiddles amid the scramble for the Red Sea
  • Why France EACOP case might embolden, not discourage, activists
  • The International Community Must Reconsider its Engagement with Somaliland
  • Unpacking the geopolitics of Uganda’s anti-gay bill
  • Why’s the AfDB siding with the Agrochemical Industrial Complex?

Editor’s Picks

Editor's PicksEgyptFellowsSociety

“People said it’s haram”: Happy mums show reality of adoption in Egypt

Individuals telling their stories and shifts in popular culture are gradually eroding the stigma around Kafala adoption. When Rasha Mekky reached her mid-20s, she and her husband decided they were ...
  • Best African books of 2022.

    The best African books of 2022

    By Samira Sawlani
    December 14, 2022
  • Eritreans Biniam Girmay wins the Gent-Wevelgem men's elite race in March 2022, becoming the race's first African winner.

    Why are there no Black riders in the Tour de France?

    By Georgia Cole & Temesgen Futsumbrhan Gebrehiwet
    July 13, 2022
  • img-9

    What is the legacy of #EndSARS?

    By Zainab Onuh-Yahaya
    November 23, 2021
  • Members of the Sangwe cooperative of Rugazi Hill, Burundi, collecting goats they bought with their government loan. Credit: Jimbere Magazine.

    The (surprisingly political) cost of a goat in Burundi

    By Lorraine Josiane Manishatse
    April 5, 2022

Brought to you by

img-11

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.