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Government actions against journalists in Africa

11 recorded incidents in 7 countries of Africa.

Countries

Tactics used

Incidents

Date	Incident	Country	Tactic	Head of government	Outcome
October 29, 2025	Tanzania shuts down internet access on election day amid unrest	Tanzania	Shutdowns and blocking	Samia Suluhu Hassan	Unknown
September 3, 2025	Ethiopia arrests at least six journalists including Sheger FM staff over election-year coverage	Ethiopia	Detention and violence	Abiy Ahmed	Ongoing (September 22, 2025)
January 16, 2025	Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992	Tunisia	Insult and defamation laws	Kais Saied	Sustained
July 14, 2023	Zimbabwe's Patriotic Act criminalizes journalists' contact with foreign governments	Zimbabwe	Secrets and espionage laws	Emmerson Mnangagwa	Sustained (July 14, 2023)
March 16, 2018	Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee	Tanzania	Licensing and closure of outlets	John Magufuli	Unknown (April 12, 2018)
December 29, 2013	Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges	Egypt	Detention and violence	Adly Mansour	Reversed (September 23, 2015)
March 15, 2002	Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses	Zimbabwe	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Mugabe	Unknown
July 1995	Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting	Nigeria	Detention and violence	Sani Abacha	Reversed (June 15, 1998)
November 2, 1985	South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency	South Africa	Shutdowns and blocking	P. W. Botha	Reversed (June 1, 1990)
May 24, 1960	Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country	Egypt	Funding and ownership pressure	Gamal Abdel Nasser	Ongoing (January 1, 1989)
March 17, 1950	South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals	South Africa	Prior restraint	Daniel François Malan	Reversed (February 2, 1990)

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