Burkina Faso Suspends VOA Broadcasts For Three Months For Glorifying Terrorism

Burkina Faso’s Higher Council of Communication (CSC) has banned Voice of America (VOA) from broadcasting for three months in the Sahel country.

The suspension followed the September 19 airing of VOA’s “Washington Forum” on private radio station Ouaga FM, which the CSC deemed to have undermined the morality of the Burkinabe and Malian Armed Forces, according to Agence d’information du Burkina.

During the Washington Forum program, VOA reporter, Bagassi Koura, had described a recent terrorist attack in Bamako as “courageous” and criticised the Burkinabe military’s response to attacks, specifically referencing the August 2024 Barsalgho attack by terrorists which left many Burkinabe civilians dead. The CSC highlighted these statements as misleading and potentially damaging.

As a result, the CSC imposed the three-month suspension on VOA and called on Ouaga FM to be more cautious in its programming choices. Additionally, the council has suspended all synchronisation between national and international media until further notice.

This is the second time in 2024 that VOA has faced suspension in Burkina Faso. In April, the CSC banned the United States’ broadcaster for two weeks after it aired a Human Rights Watch report accusing the Burkinabe army of human rights abuses.

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