DRCongo. Reporters Without Borders they criticize restrictions against journalists

A reporters Without Borders (RSF) today criticized the “disproportionate restrictions” and the “threat of sanctions” made by the Congolese regulator against journalists covering the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo).

“ The RSF denounces the recommendation issued on 19 October by the Superior Council of the Audiovisual and Communication (CSAC) which, under the pretext of combating the apology of war, threatens with sanctions the media that give voice to the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation or that disseminate certain contents related to armed groups,” said the RSF cabinet’s defense of rights for sub-Saharan Africa, Jeanne Lagarde.

“ These disproportionate restrictions, with vague terms, run the risk of hindering journalistic work; the RSF call on the CSAC to ensure the right of journalists to inform independently about the conflict in the east of the country,” he added.

The Congolese CSAC issued on Wednesday a series of measures that prohibit granting “a media platform to the leaders, spokespersons, representatives or members of the FRN”, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), of former President Joseph Kabila, who ruled the country between 2001 and 2019, and who recently took the lead in the rebellion in eastern DRCongo.

In mid-October, the FRN succeeded the armed anti-government group M23 and its political platform, the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which, since the end of 2021 and with the support of Rwanda, seized vast areas of territory in eastern Congo.

The CSAC also prohibits “granting the word or space to representatives of political parties prohibited in the DRC,” including Joseph Kabila’s party, the PPRD, which was suspended following the announcement of the creation of the FRN.

“Any breach duly found will subject its author to the penalties provided for,” the CSAC, described by the RSF, threatened an NGO that defends press freedom, in a report published in March, as the “operational arm of power in controlling the narrative about war” and that makes “regularly decisions that resemble more and more censorship”.

The DRC ranks 130th (between 180 countries) in the RSF world ranking on press freedom.

Journalists in rebel-controlled territories are also victims of violence and threats. Some 90 journalists from the provinces of South Kivu and North Kivu were forced to flee between 2023 and the beginning of 2025, according to the National Union of the Congolese Press (UNPC).