In Algeria, it has been impossible since last Thursday to access the Maghreb Emerging (which has existed since 2010) and Radiom.info (linked to the Internet radio of the same name, launched in 2013) news sites. The management of the two online media denounces a blockage by the Algerian authorities.
“Usage checks with the host and local tests are converging,” according to a statement signed by the publisher of the two sites, for which it is a question of political censorship. On the side of the Algerian authorities, no direct reaction to these accusations. But a statement was issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Communication.
He recalls that the Algerian press is prohibited from receiving foreign funding. And points to the finger Radio M, which would have been launched thanks in particular to funds coming from abroad, always according to the ministry. Words that Radio M calls defamatory. The media specifies that it does not exclude legal proceedings against the minister.
Several NGOs also denounce a blockage of Maghreb Émergent and Radio M. The Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) more generally calls for an end to attacks on freedom of expression, citing in particular the case of journalist Khaled Drareni, TV5 Monde and Reporters Without Borders correspondent in Algeria, who could also be heard on Radio M. He has been in pre-trial detention for more than two weeks, accused of inciting unarmed assembly.
