Burkina Faso's military junta has suspended U.S.-funded news organisation Voice of America (VOA) for three months, according to a statement from the Superior Council for Communication (CSC).
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.
According to the communications regulator CSC, VOA was accused of demoralizing troops in Burkina Faso and Mali after one of their reports made a controversial comment during a discussion on Sept. 19.
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.
Burkina Faso, along with other Sahel nations, have been grappling with Islamist insurgencies linked to terrorist organisations like al Qaeda and Islamic State, both of which have claimed the lives of thousands of people and the displacement of millions.
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.
Since the junta took power in a September 2022 coup, Burkina Faso has shown increasing intolerance towards criticism despite its promises to address the Islamist insurgency.
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.
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