Somalia: Concerns Over Media Freedom and Press Suppression in Somalia

Mogadishu, Somalia — The platforms of Shabelle TV and radio are once again under what looks like coordinated and selected pressure activities from state-sponsored minders in Somalia.

News articles about opposition activities, which are critical of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whose mandate of four years has ended recently, are instantly removed on our Facebook page after state surrogates using fake companies for a claim of copyright violations manipulate Facebook's community and copyright guidelines.

For more clarity, news articles about the government and narratives in favor of it are untouched and continue to remain be published on our Facebook page.

It is the second time that these state surrogates or minders have launched systematic and clandestine activities against Shabelle Media Network and other online media organizations based both inside and outside Somalia.

These state-sponsored minders are now using, ironically, this time a fake company named "La Liga" which is indeed the official name of the Spanish football league

We deplore and condemn such low-key but oppressive activities to silence the Somali media. Shabelle Media Network has been the backbone of press freedom in Somalia for a long time and strives to create an environment where freedom of speech can be exercised by everyone, political parties, and state representatives.

We hereby call on the government to refrain from such activities and curb those minders behaving in their capacity. We also call on the international community and media advocates to raise this issue with the top leaders of the Somali government and to exert pressure on them to allow the media to function as it should, so that good governance and state-building aspirations can evolve more steadily in Somalia.

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