Tunisian media regulator shuts down Nessma TV, citing regulatory violation
On April 25, 2019, Tunisian police raided the studios of privately owned television broadcaster Nessma TV and confiscated its broadcasting equipment following a ruling by the High Independent Authority of Audiovisual Communication, the country’s media regulator, stating that the broadcaster did not have proper legal status, according to Reuters and local news reports.
Tunisian police beat reporter, seize his equipment at protest
Tunisian police beat Hamdi al-Souissi, a reporter for the local radio station Diwan FM, seized Souissi’s recording equipment, detained him, and questioned him for two hours at a precinct in in the country’s eastern city of Sfax, on September 18, 2017, local media reported.
Tunisian security forces interrogate news website cofounder
Officers from the Tunisian National Guard’s Central Investigation Brigade interrogated Sami Ben Gharbia, the cofounder of the independent news website Nawaat, for six hours on May 3, 2017, demanding that he reveal the sources of an April 24 article about a draft economic and financial reconciliation law, Ben Gharbia told the Committee to Protect Journalists.…
From High Profile to Exile
Heba Alshibani did not set out to become a journalist. She had expected to become an academic, as many members of her Libyan family had before the February 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi. But when the violence did not abate after Qaddafi’s overthrow, Alshibani witnessed events that she felt compelled…
News website Inkyfada hit with cyberattack after Panama Papers report
The independent Tunisian news website Inkyfada was hit with a cyberattack on April 4, 2016, hours after publishing a Panama Papers report that mentioned Tunisian politician Mohsen Marzouk, according to statements published by Inkyfada on its Facebook page. During the attack Inkyfada’s website was hacked and its content manipulated, with hackers attempting to publish names…
We need a free press to succeed, Tunisia’s leaders tell CPJ
Prime Minister vows to protect journalists Tunis, October 28, 2015–Tunisia’s senior leadership vowed in meetings with the Committee to Protect Journalists in Tunis on Wednesday to uphold press freedom as the country transitions to democracy, and to protect journalists assaulted by security forces or threatened by extremists.
In Tunisia, press freedom erodes amid security fears
Hard-earned press freedom in Tunisia is under threat as journalists are squeezed between violent extremists and security services sensitive to criticism in the wake of deadly terror attacks. While Islamist militants threaten the media, the government introduces restrictive legislation and security forces legally harass and even assault journalists. In this climate, which is further restricted…
Tunisia charges editor with complicity in terrorist attack
New York, July 23, 2015–Tunisian authorities should drop charges against an editor accused of complicity in the June 27 terrorist attack on Sousse beach that killed at least 39 people, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Noureddine Mbarki was charged in connection with publishing a photograph of a car that purportedly transported the gunman.…
Treating the Internet as the enemy in the Middle East
The snow and freezing temperatures that struck Saudi Arabia unexpectedly in December 2013 were newsworthy in a desert kingdom better known for its extreme heat. But the fact that the ensuing power outages at a regional prison left prisoners without power or heat for nearly a week was apparently off-limits to reporters.