Democratic Republic of the Congo - January 2025

On 13 January, Al Jazeera was suspended from broadcasting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for 90 days over an interview it aired with the leader of the M23 rebel group, Bertrand Bisimwa. Citing allegations that the interview had been conducted with ‘the aim of destabilizing the institutions of the republic’, the Congolese media regulator, the Higher Council for Audiovisual and Communication (Le Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication, CSAC), said that it had suspended the broadcaster as a ‘precautionary measure’. In response to the same interview, the communications minister, Patrick Muyaya, had announced four days earlier that he had revoked Al Jazeera journalists’ media accreditation and warned that the government may consider taking more radical measures. These developments came amid growing pressure from authorities on the press over their coverage of the M23 rebels’ military advances in the ongoing conflict in the east of the country.      

Sources: Le Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication, Patrick Muyaya, Committee to Protect Journalists, Associated Press News