The principle gains won by the 2014 revolution in Tunisia were freedom of speech, freedom of information and freedom of the press. Once a tightly controlled sector, it saw the restructuring of public media and the sudden birth of multiple online news outlets as well as tv channels. The implementation of a legal framework through , further protected these gains.
Indeed, the revolutionary nature of such an evolution within the media sector, and the subsequent protections introduced, cannot be overstated after decades of dictatorship.
Now, these gains are under threat and the state of press freedoms in Tunisia is alarming to the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT). The union warned that this has been the case since sitting president Kais Saied’s, which allowed him to gain ‘all the power’.
However, the hostility towards a liberated Tunisian press did not start with Kais Saied in the post-revolution context. His predecessor Beji Caid Essebsi, a long time servant of the Bourguiba regime and president of Tunisia between 2014 and 2019, was also problematic on the subject.
Though elected to facilitate the transition towards a more established democracy, Essebsi directly attacked the media by them of tarnishing Tunisia’s image abroad – an accusation that has been used repeatedly as a repressive by successive governments. When in 2018, journalists were harassed for covering national demonstrations that were sparked over the heightened cost of living and taxes, it happened under Essebsi’s leadership.
Police even and questioned French journalists, Michel Picard from Radio France International (RFI) and Libération’s Mathieu Galtier.
The events in 2018 normalised a more violent approach to journalists who would expect intimidation whilst covering demonstrations. There were even calls to use “” against them, from within the .
Journalists fought the growing state hostility against them and in Tunis to express their opposition to what they feared was an ushering towards the return of a police state.
By the time Saied dissolved parliament and dismissed the PM, were targeted and physically assaulted. The July 25 movement was perceived as a hurdle to the president’s power grab, and was treated as such.
During his term, Saied pursued the control of Tunisian press. In April 2021 he , known for his track record, as director of the Tunisie Agence Presse news agency. The opposition from journalists worried over their freedoms was met with the to enforce the decision.
Saied didn’t stop there. and were shut down for allegedly operating without a license, but it was understood that they were for allowing dissenting voices to express opposition to the president on their platform.
The SNJT once more .
This is all perhaps unsurprising given Saied’s rule not only began with a coup, but was followed by him ordering a police on the Al Jazeera offices in Tunis and their subsequent shutting down.
Photojournalist , Hamza , was also targeted, as was from Al Arabiya and the ’&Բ; and Massinissa Benlakehal.
State violence – expressed both by its institutions or street mobs – against journalists, is the direct result of presidential contempt in the absence of widespread popular backing. It is the reason Saied feels threatened by independent journalism: it exposes the the country is in under his watch.
Press freedoms are further restricted through the country’s increasingly hostile legal framework. The government sent a to all its ministries announcing that it will enforce the power to pressure journalists into revealing their sources and – in an effort to control what the public is told – to oblige officials to seek an official authorisation before speaking to the media.
With the media sector being so on advertisement, the Tunisian press is forced to ‘follow the money’ just to survive. Furthermore, the lack of within institutions plays a big role in undermining its future. The case of media tycoon Nabil Karoui speaks volumes. His added doubts on the impartiality of , and more broadly towards the media which enjoy a measly 66% of the .
Appropriately, Tunisia fell from the 73rd to the 94th place in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) .
Prominent figures of Tunisian journalism, like , are rightly holding the president responsible for the deterioration of the working conditions of journalists and the free access to information.
Kais Said’s “” gave him monopoly of all three branches of power. It also laid the foundations for a long term weakening of all that Tunisians gained through the uprisings since 2014. and the former have gone on hunger strike over his ongoing purge of institutions.
Tunisia’s former dictators Bourguiba and Ben Ali would not have lasted had it not been for the targeting and repression of . The revolution, which was made up of fearless and independent reporters like , defied decades of censorship to speak truth to power. Now, it seems the state is creeping back to its former practices. Tunisians must therefore decide whether they want to mortgage their future on the basis of a single man’s ambition to rule unrestrained, or fight for the freedom of its press.
Yasser Louati is a French political analyst and head of the Committee for Justice & Liberties (CJL). He hosts a hit podcast called "" in English and "Les Idées Libres" in French.
Follow him on Twitter: @yasserlouati
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