Benin - March 2025

On 12 March, Benin’s media regulator, the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC), issued an indefinite suspension of privately owned news site Bénin Web TV, after the outlet aired a program that reported on the regulator’s budget. HAAC accused the outlet of broadcasting ‘false information’ and ‘seriously undermining the institution's credibility.’ Bénin Web TV published three letters from HAAC alongside responses from its own director, Paul Arnaud Deguenon, explaining that the outlet’s reporting was based on HAAC’s own 2025 budget presentation and public statement. HAAC also withdrew Deguenon’s press card. The suspension appears to contravene HAAC’s own 2023 authorization of Bénin Web TV’s operations, which stipulates that suspensions for failing to comply with official warnings may not exceed one month. This follows its suspension of six other media outlets in January, a decision that has not yet been reversed. 

Sources: Benin Web TV, High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) (1), HAAC (2), HAAC (3), West Africa Democracy Radio, Committee to Protect Journalists