In Guinea, several independent radio stations are being jammed and social media cannot be accessed without a VPN, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
According to the non-governmental organization working to promote free speech, Ifex, RSF is calling on the authorities to shed light on these serious media freedom violations and do what is needed to end them.
“You hear what sounds like wind or sometimes music dedicated to the army, glorifying national pride,” a listener was quoted saying.
The programs of news radio station FIM FM have been jammed since the evening of 24 November. It has been the same with the news and entertainment radio station Djoma FM since 27 November, Espace FM since 29 November and Evasion since 30 November.
The platforms of Meta (WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram) and ByteDance (TikTok) have been blocked in Guinea since 24 November and can now only be accessed by means of a VPN.
The authorities have so far said nothing about this. RSF has tried to contact government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, who is also minister of telecommunications, but he has not responded to messages.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Guinean journalist deplored “the government’s deaf ear and tight lips in response to a situation that is having a dangerous impact on freedom of expression.”
“The jamming of independent radio stations and inaccessibility of social media are reminders of how fragile press freedom is in Guinea. The public is being denied its right of access to diverse news and information. Jamming radios looks alarmingly like an act of sabotage designed to silence them and send an extremely worrying signal. The authorities must say something and must do whatever is needed to remedy this situation as quickly as possible,” said Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s sub-Saharan Africa bureau.
Aboubacar Camara, who heads the Guinean Union of Free Radio and TV Stations (URTELGUI), told RSF that these radio frequencies have no internal technical problems and that he therefore believes they are being deliberately jammed.
“We have carried out checks,” he said. “If you shift the frequency, the signal gets through, you can receive the radio station. So, it’s the radio frequency itself that is being targeted.” To jam a frequency, he said you just need to “have transmitters of greater capacity than those possessed by the radio station, set them onto the desired frequency, and transmit what you want in their stead.”
Camara thinks the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPT), Guinea’s telecommunications regulator, has such equipment and that it may be the cause of this interference.
FIM FM director Talibé Barry agrees. “We are convinced that the ARPT’s silence is a sign of guilt.” When questioned on 27 November, Guinea’s High Authority for Communication (HAC) said it had “no additional information” and that it would investigate.
The jamming of FIM FM and Djoma FM began a few days after they covered the dismissal and arrest of public health minister Mamadou Phété Diallo for corruption and embezzling public funds. The jamming of Espace FM and Evasion began after they covered the jamming of the other two radio stations.