Malian media authorities suspend two French broadcasters

Officials said the suspension related to broadcasts astir an ongoing blockade that has caused large substance shortages.

Mali’s media regulator has suspended French broadcasters LCI and TF1 implicit allegedly broadcasting mendacious accusation connected a substance blockade imposed by an al-Qaeda linked equipped group.

TF1 is simply a French commercialized tv presumption that broadcasts successful respective countries, and LCI, La Chaine Info, is simply a French free-to-air quality transmission that is besides portion of the TF1 group.

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Mali’s High Authority for Communication (HAC) said successful a missive to representation distributors successful Mali, dated November 13 and made nationalist connected Friday, that it had suspended TF1 and LCI, claiming the 2 backstage TV channels had made “unverified claims and falsehoods” successful a broadcast connected November 9.

“LCI and TF1 tv services person been removed from your packages until further notice,” the papers read.

The missive said the authorization disputed 3 passages successful broadcasts by the 2 channels, specifically that “the junta has banned the merchantability of fuel,” “[the regions of] Kayes and Nioro are wholly nether blockade,” and “the terrorists are present adjacent to bringing down the superior [Bamako].”

The channels person not been accessible successful Mali since Thursday evening, a writer for the AFP quality bureau reported.

Since September, the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group, linked to al-Qaeda and chiefly operating successful Mali, has imposed a blockade connected substance entering the landlocked country, by sealing disconnected large highways utilized by tankers to transport substance from neighbouring Senegal and the Ivory Coast.

In caller weeks, substance shortages caused by the blockade person created agelong lines astatine state stations and further deteriorated the information concern successful the country.

People stitchery astatine a petrol presumption successful Bamako, Mali, connected November 1, 2025, amid ongoing substance shortages caused by a blockade imposed by equipped fighters successful aboriginal September [Reuters]

Several Western embassies, notably those of the United States and France, person asked their citizens to permission Mali.

Mali, alongside its neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, is governed by subject leaders who took powerfulness by unit successful caller years, pledging to supply much information to citizens.

But the information concern successful the Sahel has worsened since the militaries took power, analysts say, with a grounds fig of attacks and civilians killed some by equipped groups and authorities forces.

All 3 countries person withdrawn from determination and planetary organisations successful caller months, portion forming their ain bloc known arsenic the Alliance of Sahel States.

The 3 West African countries person besides coiled backmost defence practice with Western powers, astir notably their erstwhile assemblage ruler, France, successful favour of person ties with Russia, including Niger nationalising a uranium excavation antecedently operated by French atomic steadfast Orano.

Within the 3 countries, the subject governments are warring equipped groups that power swaths of territory and person staged attacks connected service posts.

Human Rights Watch and different advocacy groups person accused the fighters, the subject and spouse forces of Burkina Faso and Mali of imaginable atrocities.