Tunisian media feel strain of shift to authoritarianism

Samia Hosny

Media professionals, unions and watchdogs are warning of a serious deterioration in media freedoms in Tunisia as the country drifts into authoritarian rule, Samia Hosny writes.

President Kais Saied has consolidated his power through a series of measures since July 2021 and the adoption of a controversial new constitution almost a year later, moving more decisionmaking to the presidency.

The shift has been criticised by President Saied’s opponents as a reversal in Tunisia's path to parliamentary democracy.

President’s view of the media

Journalists have not been spared in Saied’s regular tirades against various groups in the country. Following a verbal attack on judges last year, Saied criticised the media’s news coverage.

In May 2022, the president accused the media of “falsifying facts” and reporting “trivia rather than important issues".

He was quoted as saying that freedom of expression “must be preceded by freedom of thinking” and that "patriotic thought is that which seeks to preserve the state and its institutions".

Tunisia's president has embarked on a series of measures expanding his powers since 2021.

Oct 2019: Saied, a constitutional law professor, is elected president

Jul 2021: Suspends parliament, lifts MPs' immunity and sacks PM under new "exceptional" measures after popular unrest

Sep 2021: Issues a decree giving himself expanded powers over key institutions

Feb-Apr 2022: Dissolves Supreme Judicial Council, formally disbands parliament, restructures election commission

Jul 2022: New constitution extending presidential powers approved in referendum

Dec 2022: Parliamentary elections are boycotted by Tunisia's main parties and marked by a record low turnout of 11.2%

Jan 2023: Election re-run has similarly low turnout of 11.4%, a stark indictment of his popularity

Media workers face harassment

As Saied gathers power in his own hands, domestic media across the political spectrum have reported various forms of harassment and attack.

Noureddine Boutar, the director of the popular Radio Mosaïque FM, was arrested in a wave of arrests of high profile individuals and politicians in February 2023.

The station has long been critical of President Saied. International media watchdogs have strongly denounced the move, with Article 19 pointing out that the journalist was arrested “in the absence of any clear charges against him”.

In November, the strongly anti-Saied Business News website said its founder and manager, Nizar Bahloul, and journalist Raouf Ben Hedi had been questioned by the police after the justice minister filed a complaint over a critical article published in the outlet that examined the prime minister's first 13 months in office.

In January 2022, Walid Manser – the head of the union of technical and administrative workers at the national television channel – reported the storming of the TV building by “special forces”. They threatened to punish workers if they went ahead with their plan to stage a strike, Manser said.

In October 2021, the pro-Islamist Zitouna TV reported that the security forces had stormed its studios and that its presenter Amer Ayed had been arrested and questioned before a military court after reading an antidictatorship poem on air.

Journalists have sounded the alarm

There have also been reports of police harassing journalists covering antiSaied protests.

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) has condemned "extreme violence" used against journalists.

A new decree carries unprecedented restrictions on reporting security and political news

Yassine Mahjoub/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Media’s independence under threat

Journalists have sounded the alarm over what they see as state restrictions taking many forms.

In April 2022, public media workers staged a nationwide strike to protest at perceived government attempts to control the editorial line of their outlets. The SNJT had warned at the time that Tunisian state TV had been transformed into a "platform" for voicing the president's political orientation.

The SNJT's deputy head, Amira Mohamed, says most threats to journalists came first from the government. She also noted the judiciary as a source of attacks on media professionals for "the first time".

The union attributes the “dangerous slide” in Tunisia's ranking in Reporters Without Borders' 2022 World Press Freedom Index to a rise in action against journalists. It cites prosecutions, arrests, trials before military tribunals, and the authorities blocking access to information.

Decree 54 and freedom of expression

In September, President Saied issued a decree-law against spreading false information and rumours online.

The SNJT and human rights groups said Decree 54 imposed "unprecedented restrictions that will lead to the intimidation of journalists and citizens from expressing their views, especially on matters related to security personnel and political officials".

The crimes mentioned in the decree include "deliberately using information and communication networks and systems to fabricate, disseminate, publish, send or produce false news, statements or rumours or documents that are fabricated, falsified or wrongly associated with a certain party with the purpose of infringing upon other people’s rights or undermining national security or defence”.

Such actions are now punishable by prison sentences of five years and fines worth up to 15,000 US dollars. The penalties are doubled if the defendant is a "public official or quasi-official", according to the decree.

Uncertain future for media regulator

Tunisia’s media regulator – the High Independent Audiovisual Authority, (HAICA) – has been fighting for its existence over the past year. Its role is no longer enshrined in the new constitution and its future is uncertain.

The regulator was established as a provisional constitutional authority under the now defunct 2014 constitution. This provision was removed from the new constitution, HAICA member Skina Abdessamad said.

Activists warn of a reversal of the freedoms gained from the uprising that launched the ‘Arab Spring’

FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images

Samia Hosny is a BBC Monitoring Middle East and North Africa specialist with expertise on Tunisia