Cotonou (AFP)

Authorities in Benin recently "ordered" online news sites to close and shut down: a blow to the media sector, already precarious and under heavy pressure from the authorities.

The High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (Haac), a regulatory body for the Beninese media, published a discreet press release in early July threatening the "online media to end all publications on pain of being applied. rigor of the law. "

The institution claims to note "an all-out creation of online media without prior authorization", but remains unclear on the contours of this new ban.

"There are people who do not respond to character surveys," defended a Haac spokesman, Fernand Gbaguidi, during a press conference. "This constitutes a danger for the country".

Léonce Gamaï, the general manager of Banouto, a very popular news and investigation site in this West African country, says he wants to "observe the attitude of the Haac".

He "shelved" his site, and had to suspend his team of seven journalists while waiting to see more clearly. But for the past week, he himself has lost sleep. "We have commitments with partners and we have an obligation to honor them", he despairs.

The journalist says he does not understand this decision. "Banouto already existed before the legal framework ... and we have completed all our formalities for a year", he defends himself. "We were waiting for the validation of the Haac".

Léon Anjorin Koboubé, communications expert interviewed by AFP, regrets this decision and the fact that online media must "pay for the administrative slowness".

These obstacles are a "way to kill local initiatives," said the expert. He also denounces a decision "anachronistic and counterproductive, which does not fit with the technological context in the 21st century".

- "Reduce to silence" -

In the media world, many see a way for the government of Patrice Talon, accused of having committed Benin in an authoritarian turn, to tighten the noose on freedom of expression.

Several journalists and bloggers have already been prosecuted since the adoption, in April 2018, of a law establishing the Digital Code, criminalizing online press crimes and in particular the sharing of "false information" on social networks.

Under this law, Ignace Sossou, an investigative journalist for the Benin Web TV site, was arrested in December, after relaying critical remarks by the public prosecutor against the government, on Facebook and Twitter.

He had finally been heavily sentenced to 12 months in prison, including 6 months for "harassment", although the words transcribed were made.

"We want to be silenced simply because the government in power fails to control online media as is the case with traditional media," said a journalist on a web television, under the cover of 'anonymity.

The journalist accuses "the power" of "purging the media before the presidential election", scheduled for April 2021.

"The intention to clean up is not bad but we denounce the brutality of the press release. Some online bodies had taken steps to be in order, paid the required amount but the Haac never acted on," insists Zakiath Latoundji, President of the Union of Media Professionals.

Another association for the defense of journalists, the Association of promoters and professionals of digital media, denounces "a kind of restriction on freedom of expression".

"When we know the increasingly important role played by online media, we have the right to question the timing of this press release," said its president, Eustache Agboton.

Benin was 113th in the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranking, losing 17 places in 2019. RSF notes that "since President Patrice Talon came to power in 2016, opposition activities have been very little covered by state television, and the media are under close surveillance. "

© 2020 AFP