Africa
Djibouti
-
Index 2023
162/ 180
Score : 35.87
Political indicator
152
39.25
Economic indicator
174
25.49
Legislative indicator
157
34.53
Social indicator
172
28.18
Security indicator
121
51.90
Index 2022
164/ 180
Score : 35.75
Political indicator
170
32.73
Economic indicator
177
16.12
Legislative indicator
157
37.72
Social indicator
165
37.60
Security indicator
117
54.56

The government led by President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, who was reelected for a fifth term in 2021, deploys a draconian arsenal that includes judicial harassment, illegal searches, arrests and physical violence in order to impose a reign of terror on the media.

Media landscape

Djibouti’s media landscape is completely locked down and is almost exclusively limited to state-owned media, such as the newspaper La Nation, the Djiboutian news agency and the radio and TV broadcaster RTD. No independent media outlet is based in Djibouti. La Voix de Djibouti (LVD), which is run by exiles in Paris, is the only radio station offering independent news coverage. Its broadcasts are routinely jammed and its website is blocked by the authorities. It also produces the free French-language weekly LVD. The government deliberately slows down the Internet to restrict access to social media, which are some of the few places where freedom of speech and access to information prevail.

Political context

The freedom to inform is non-existent in Djibouti. The government exercises total control over the state-owned media and regulatory authorities. The 1992 constitution, the first since independence, proclaimed political pluralism but, in practice, there is a one-party system and only one way of thinking is tolerated. Critical public debate is impossible and no media outlet would be allowed to channel it.

Legal framework

The commission responsible for examining licence requests for proposed broadcast media outlets has never been set up, although a provision for its creation was included in the 30-year-old Freedom of Communication Law. This law is itself a major obstacle to press freedom because it also provides for jail terms for media offences and imposes age and nationality restrictions on those allowed to create a media outlet.

Economic context

Djibouti is a small country in the Horn of Africa with just 1 million inhabitants and a tiny advertising market. In an interview in 2020, President Guelleh tried to use this to justify the lack of independent media but, in reality, their absence is more the result of political decisions than economic circumstances. The state media, the only ones in existence, are financed by the government. The accreditation system for international correspondents and the few Somali media is not transparent and is often based on blackmail.

Sociocultural context

Journalists must be mindful of ethnic and clan-based sensitivities in Djibouti to avoid exposing themselves to additional pressure. Religion, the status of women and subjects relating to sexual orientation are particularly taboo in this Muslim country and are subject to censorship and self-censorship.

Safety

Journalists who try to do independent reporting live in constant fear of being spied on, threatened, attacked, and sometimes detained. Two journalists reporting for the Paris-based exile media LVD were detained in late 2022 and early 2023, confirming the trend in recent years for journalists to be arrested arbitrarily, often to deter them from continuing their reporting.