Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation situated in the heart of the Sahel region, has been enmeshed in violence in recent years. Once considered relatively stable, the country has become one of the epicenters of extremist violence, as it struggles to contain the activities of jihadist groups that have links with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
From marginal spillover attacks between 2015 and 2017, like the Ouagadougou hotel attack, to an existential crisis as of 2026, whole settlements and villages have been displaced.
Also, learning environments like schools have been closed permanently in some areas, and vast areas in rural areas are now under terrorist control, as the violence has escalated across the country.
From neighbours like Mali and Niger, the violence has evolved from sporadic attacks into a multi-dimensional insurgency carried out by different groups like the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
In fact, several international security reports say more than 40% of the country is no longer under state control, leaving millions in need of humanitarian assistance.
These reports are in line with the 2024 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which ranked Burkina Faso as the country most impacted by terrorism and violent extremist attacks. These assaults, analysts say, have moved from isolated ambushes to coordinated onslaughts on communities, supply chains, and military formations.
The African Defence Forum estimates that ‘’…terrorists have killed about 2,000 civilians in the country annually in recent years, while government-aligned forces are reported to have killed up to 132% more civilians in that time, as terrorists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group now operate openly in as much as 80% of the country’’.
Civic Space Control
Amid the growing attacks by insurgent groups across the country, especially in the most volatile north and eastern regions, the country has adopted more combative measures both on the field, against insurgents, and in the civil space, against dissenting voices.
Specifically, the military junta, according to Human Rights Watch, has been using a sweeping emergency law to silence opposition and illegally conscript critics, journalists, civil society activists, and magistrates into the military.
In a recent memo, the minister of security in the country, Mohamadou Sana, strictly warned residents to refrain from sharing or engaging in any form of online content that authorities reckon could promote terrorism or foster disinformation.
Sana said ‘…messages, videos, or photos that convey information that is unverified or harmful, are capable of putting national security under serious risks’’.
Traoré officials argue that controlling information flow is critical in conflicts where propaganda, fear, and misinformation can fuel instability.
Today, Burkina Faso maintains little to no civil society or media opposition, which is unsurprising given recent heavy government repression and the country’s poor educational track record.
However, the United Nations, writing on the need for Burkina Faso to halt the rapid closure of civic space notes that “…instead of banning political parties and jailing people for expressing their opinions, the authorities in Burkina Faso need to open up space for civil society, including humanitarian actors, respect the exercise of freedom of association and expression, and lift bans on the activities of political parties, in accordance with their international obligations and commitments”.
Restriction on Information Flow: Implications During Security Crisis
While the government may find justification for this information clampdown, for ordinary people on the streets of Burkina Faso, the consequences are troubling.
In areas ravaged by conflicts, people rely on the media, whether traditional like newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, or social, like X, Facebook, Instagram, and others, to stay informed about potential threats, government interventions, safe corridors in times of relocation, as well as emergency services like hospitals and aid distribution centers.
Therefore, restricting these channels can leave communities vulnerable and open to attacks.
Issouf, a trader in Dori, asked, ”…If they take away our rights to share information on the crisis, how will others know in order to stay safe’?. “Sometimes, it is social media that warns us before the danger arrives”.
Despite this obvious advantage, the government is afraid that the same platforms can be used to disseminate falsehoods or be exploited by extremists for the purpose of recruiting gullible citizens or for psychological warfare.
In this context, both the regime and the jihadist groups resort to using disinformation as a potent tool in the conflict. Security analysts warn that terror sects, as well as foreign actors, take advantage of social media platforms to share false narratives, influence the opinion of the people, and undermine the trust citizens have in government institutions.
The Foreign Policy Research Institute, in a report, says ‘’Burkina Faso is part of a broader information battleground, in which truth is often contested and weaponised’’.
It notes that false reports of insecurity, exaggerated casualty figures, and manipulated videos can deepen fear and confusion. He adds, “…in such an environment, controlling narratives become as important as controlling territory.”
Crackdown on Journalists
Shortly after taking power in 2022, the military junta led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré began blocking French-language news broadcasters, forcing foreign journalists out of the country and shutting down access to outside media websites.
While many thought it would be restricted to foreign media, the crackdown, sooner or later, spread to the local media space.
The regime, which touted itself as one that would usher in the much-needed peace and development, soon found itself battling with terrorism on an unprecedented scale. With no clear solution to the crisis, it began stifling the press in order to stop journalists from reporting its failure in tackling the menace.
This saw the arrest of prominent journalists like Serge Oulon, the director of the investigative newspaper L’Événement (“the Event”), and television commentators Adama Bayala and Kalifara Séré. While they remained in custody, government officials denied holding them until October 2024, when they acknowledged that they had been conscripted into military service.
This was followed by the suspension of the French news network TV5 and several other media outlets, after they reported on a Human Rights Watch report that found that the military had committed crimes against humanity in the Yatenga province.
Many journalists were forced to flee the country, following threats of imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance, and forced conscription into the military. “I left Ouagadougou, and I’m not planning to return”, a journalist told Human Rights Watch after the arrest of Idrissa Barry. “Free media is dead in this country; all you can hear is government propaganda”.
Even when some journalists fled the country, they were still declared wanted. On April 1, Burkina Faso’s security minister published a list of individuals who are “…actively wanted for criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise’’. The list included exiled journalists Newton Ahmed Barry and Abdoulaye Barry. Such is the extent to which the Traore administration is clamping down on the media.
Amid this deteriorating situation for journalists, the International Press Institute (IPI) writes on ‘The Liberalist’, saying…international pressure is urgently needed to ensure that the authorities in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso take steps to respect media freedom and uphold their obligations to protect journalists’ safety”.
National Security, Democracy & Freedom of Information: The Meeting Point
While security experts agree that national security justifies certain actions of government, civil libertarians counter that narrative because more often than not, suppression of the civil space and specifically the media, sometimes hides under the bushel of national security.
Therefore, many tend to ask if it is possible to counter terrorism while blocking information flow. The answer lies in striking a balance. Democracy thrives when dissenting voices are freely allowed a space within the context of the laws that govern the land.
These voices help keep the government in check and help citizens make informed decisions during elections, town halls, calls for memoranda on legislative bills, etc.
However, in a military junta like what is obtainable in Burkina Faso today, the reverse is usually the case; hence, it is common to hear of reported cases of clampdowns on the media, which lead to weak institutions and citizen alienation.
In Burkina Faso, striking a balance is becoming relatively difficult with each passing day as the government intensifies its military campaign against terrorism, which is evolving in ways that are both complex and solution-defying.
Experts suggest that the government should adopt a more subtle approach that will address the threat posed by disinformation, and at the same time not shut out real voices. This is beneficial to both parties (the regime and the media) because it ensures that only legitimate information dissemination outlets stay, while only true information about the war goes out.
According to a Burkinabè journalist in exile, “Burkina Faso’s relentless descent into large-scale violence is not getting the scrutiny and media coverage it deserves domestically because independent media outlets have been silenced’’. “Unfolding events such as the deadly attack on civilians in Solenzo and elsewhere are never reported in the pro-government media or are reported in a biased way”. This lack of reporting deprives the state of foreign assistance to address the violence, as many would not appreciate the extent of the war.
Conclusion
Across the country, citizens are demanding two things: safety on the one hand, which requires military action against perpetrators of the violence and their propaganda, and the right to know what is happening around them, on the other hand, which requires the existence of a free press. So, while the war rages on the frontlines and in thick forests, it is also being waged across newsrooms, on air, and across social media platforms.
Therefore, as the country tries to walk its way out of this maze, it remains to be seen if it can counter terrorism and its propaganda machines, without infringing on the very rights of the people it is fighting to protect.
