Burkina Faso has suspended the French television channel TV5 Monde for broadcasting false information and what the country describes as an apology for terrorism.

The country's grievance against the French television channel stems from its coverage of the recent surge in terrorist attacks against Mali, another state ruled by a junta.

These two West African countries are two-thirds members of the Alliance of Sahel States, a newly formed regional coalition driven by deep anti-Western sentiments.

These two nations, along with their newest member, Niger, are no strangers to terrorist attacks, and Mali has suffered waves of extremely violent activity on its territory in recent weeks.

As a result, the country has been the subject of immense media coverage, some aspects of which may appear to be a gross distortion of the facts.

Burkina Faso has formulated this specific justification regarding the recent suspension of TV5 Monde.

"The broadcasting of programs by the TV5 Monde television channel is prohibited in Burkina Faso, as of the signing of this decision," announced the country's High Council for Communication.

According to a statement from the council president, Wendingoudi Louis Modeste Ouedraogo, the suspension follows "the finding of numerous violations of the law, ethics and professional conduct in the handling of issues related to the fight against terrorism" in Burkina Faso and in connection with the attacks that occurred at the end of last month in Mali, as reported by the newspaper Le Monde.

"The offenses committed, which involve disinformation and the glorification of terrorism, were noted in several editions of the television news, from April to May 2026," he added.

TV5 Monde, along with other foreign news platforms, has been subject to similar regulatory measures in recent years.

The suspension of media platforms in Burkina Faso in recent years

The TV5 Monde channel was subject to two separate suspensions, in April and June 2024.

In April 2024, TV5 Monde was suspended, along with the websites of the German channel Deutsche Welle, Ouest-France, the British newspaper The Guardian and the African agencies APA and Ecofin, because of their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleging the army's involvement in extrajudicial killings.

This decision follows the suspension of BBC Africa and the US-funded Voice of America for their reporting on the HRW investigation, which claimed that the Burkinabe army executed around 223 villagers in February of the same year.

In October 2024, the military junta of Burkina Faso also suspended the US-funded news organization Voice of America (VOA) for three months.