VOA was suspended for comments it made about the jihadist insurgency in West Africa’s Sahel region that has plagued the region, claimed the lives of thousands of people, and displaced millions since 2012.
In the meeting, a VOA reporter described a jihadist attack in Bamako as “courageous,” criticized security operations, and provided an unfounded death toll for an attack in Burkina Faso.
The session was broadcast by a private local radio station, which has now been prohibited from using any international media reports in its news coverage.
As a result, the CSC moved to suspend the synchronization of all national media with international media until further notice. VOA has not yet responded to the suspension.
According to experts, the frustration over the authorities’ failure to protect civilians was part of what led to the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in recent times.
In April this year, the CSC suspended the radio broadcasts of VOA, BBC Africa, and other international media outlets for two weeks over their “sensational” coverage of a Human Rights Watch report that accused the army of extrajudicial killings.
Additionally, the CSC recently withdrew the radio frequencies of France’s RFI radio without providing an explanation for its removal.
