Event Summary
Since January 2025, Benin’s High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) has multiplied decisions to withdraw authorisations, frequencies, and slots on the digital multiplex, targeting several audiovisual media outlets. The decisions taken in November 2025 follow this same trend, with the simultaneous withdrawal of frequencies for Mifon FM, Couffo FM, Aïfa FM, Urban FM and Nostalgie FM, as well as the removal of multiplex slots for Canal 2 Star, Imalè Africa TV and Tunde Agric TV. In each case, the HAAC cites non-compliance with regulatory requirements, particularly the obligation of regular broadcasting established in Article 5.
Although these decisions are based on legitimate legal grounds and on the need to ensure the proper management of the radio spectrum, their accumulation over a short period — starting as early as the beginning of 2025 — raises major concerns about their overall impact on press freedom, media pluralism, and the public’s access to diverse information. Indeed, the repeated use of the most severe sanction (the outright withdrawal of authorisation) reduces the number of media actors operating, increases the sector’s vulnerability, and may have a chilling effect on the newsrooms that remain active.
The lack of public information on whether the economic, technical, or structural difficulties of the affected media were examined also limits the transparency of the process. A thorough assessment appears necessary to determine whether this succession of decisions, while legally compliant, remains proportionate and compatible with constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.