The military government of Niger in Africa has suspended the radio broadcast of BBC for three months on the grounds of spreading false news.
According to the Associated Press on the 13th (local time), Laliou Sidi Muhammad, the Minister of Communications, sent a letter to local radio stations broadcasting BBC content the day before, stating that "BBC is broadcasting false information to destabilize social peace and undermine the morale of the military."
On the 11th, BBC reported that armed militants killed about 90 Nigerien soldiers and 40 civilians in two villages near the Burkina Faso border. In response, the military government issued a separate statement through state TV denying that an attack occurred in the area. They also condemned the report as "incitement to mass murder."
This is not the first time Niger's military government has sanctioned Western broadcasters. After seizing power in a coup in July last year, the military government banned broadcasts of the French public broadcaster France 24 and public radio RFI starting in August last year.
This measure is similar to sanctions imposed by the military governments of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso on France 24 and RFI in 2022 and last year, respectively. The Burkina Faso military government also suspended the radio broadcasts of BBC and Voice of America (VOA) for two weeks in April for airing a report exposing the military's massacre of civilians.
The three Sahel countries?Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso?have shown a recent trend of aligning closely with Russia instead of France, which had colonial rule, following military takeovers in recent years.
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