Incident
Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992
The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Saied.1
What happened
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported on January 16, 2025 that at least four of five imprisoned Tunisian journalists were convicted under Decree-Law 54, a 2022 cybercrime decree President Kais Saied issued while ruling by decree without a sitting parliament. Radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies of IFM each received one-year sentences, commentator Sonia Dahmani's one-year sentence was reduced to eight months on appeal before she received an additional two-year sentence, and journalist Mohamed Boughaleb received six months on a separate defamation charge. The head of Tunisia's journalists' union, Ziad Debbar, said the decree had turned every journalist into a suspect. The International Commission of Jurists said Tunisian authorities were using the decree to arbitrarily restrict dissenting voices, in violation of the country's human rights obligations, subjecting journalists, politicians and rights defenders to prosecution, investigation and imprisonment.123
What reason was given
Stated justificationDecree-Law 54 targets content that "produces, spreads, disseminates, sends or writes false news" seen as threatening "rights of others, public safety or national defense or sowing terror."2
What changed for reporting
Tunisia, once cited as a rare post-Arab Spring press-freedom success, reached its highest count of imprisoned journalists since 1992, with radio hosts and commentators serving sentences of six months to more than two years for broadcast commentary and online statements.123
Timeline
2025
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Kais Saied | ordered | President of Tunisia |
Sources
- Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists
- Tunisia: Silencing Free Voices, a briefing paper on the enforcement of Decree 54 on 'Cybercrime'
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- Tunisia's journalists' union head said the decree had turned every journalist into a suspect.
Decree 54 has now turned every journalist into a suspect,
Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2025-01-16.Claim 464, checked 2026-09-22. - The decree criminalizes producing or spreading false news deemed to threaten rights, public safety or national defense.
produce[s], spread[s], disseminate[s], send[s] or write[s] false news
Tunisia uses new cybercrime law to jail record number of journalists, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2025-01-16.Claim 465, checked 2026-09-22. - The International Commission of Jurists said Tunisian authorities used the decree to arbitrarily restrict dissenting and independent voices.
The Tunisian authorities are using Decree 54 to arbitrarily silence dissenting and independent voices, in clear violation of the country's obligations under international human rights law
Tunisia: Silencing Free Voices, a briefing paper on the enforcement of Decree 54 on 'Cybercrime', International Commission of Jurists, 2023-07-01.Claim 466, checked 2026-09-22.