South Sudan introduces new rules on how journalists cover President Kiir
South Sudan’s government has introduced new regulations setting out how journalists may cover President Salva Kiir, according to a report by 254news.co.ke. The rules formalise conditions for local and foreign media organisations seeking to report on the president’s official activities, adding to a body of directives issued in recent years by the country’s media regulator.
The restrictions come against a backdrop of persistent international concern about the state of press freedom in South Sudan. The country has consistently ranked among the lowest in the world on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, with journalists working in an environment long marked by harassment, arbitrary detention and, in some cases, lethal violence. Local and international media rights organisations have documented repeated cases of reporters being arrested or intimidated for coverage deemed critical of the government or the presidency.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, descended into civil war two years later when a political dispute between President Kiir and his then-deputy Riek Machar triggered ethnically charged fighting. A revitalised peace agreement signed in 2018 has largely held, though analysts continue to describe the political environment as restrictive, with limited space for independent media and civil society. The Media Authority, the body that regulates the press, has previously issued directives that journalists and rights organisations said were inconsistent with constitutional guarantees of free expression.
Press freedom advocates in the region frequently argue that restrictions on coverage of senior officials discourage investigative reporting and limit the public’s access to information about government decision-making. South Sudan’s journalists operate in one of the most resource-constrained media landscapes on the continent, with many outlets reliant on radio and a small print circulation.
The new regulations are likely to draw renewed scrutiny from international press freedom monitors and from donor governments that have invested in media development programmes in the country.
Sources
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