User:Ashg1177/Censorship in Algeria

The Algeria government has restricted the production of any criticism of the government, government officials or government funded institutions for many years. Independent reporting and private news networks are highly watched by the Algerian government, who claim the censorship is in place to protect their internal security situation. The types of network censored are radio stations, television programs, newspapers, films, and social media platforms. Since Algeria gained it independence in 1962 after Algerian War, the working conditions of journalists in Algeria have regressed. Each decade since the Algerian War, there have been limitations put on various private media and newspapers that restrict their publishing freedoms. As radio and television networks were integrated into society, more restrictions were emplaced. Social media networks are most recently being watched and modified to fit the restrictive conditions that the rest of the network has been defined by for years.

1960-1980 (Post Independence)
Since 1962, the anti-French resistance group the National Liberation Front (FLN) became the leaders in charge of all of Algeria's state run programs. They soon were in charge of the knowledge production coming out of these networks. The FLN established that the production of information should highlight the true success of Algeria and in this attempt, wanted all aspect of the French colonization to be liquidated including the publications of French news. French publications and networks were then limited to protect the nation sovereignty of new Algeria. The FLN wanted to take away the pre-European presence in Algerian and implement the new Arab state of Algeria.

1980-1990
As time passed, the era of the 1980s was one where regulations began to implemented to ensure the quality of knowledge production in Algeria. In Febuary 1982, the Code of 1982 implemented a new system that restricted the knowledge production in Algeria be restricted to more official individuals not just various political perspectives of ideologies from the community. The media released prior to 1988, was all owned by the central government (FLN) and those hired were civil servants of the government. The lack of freedom of press became a large political issue in Algeria, along with the political unrest regarding Chadli Bendjedid who was the president at the time that was blamed for the economic distress in Algeria.

Both of these occurrences led to the 1988 October Riots. The riots became violent and led to a significant amount of destruction in Algeria but soon after the leader of the National Liberation Front stepped down from power. Reform to the lack of freedom of publication in Algeria was nearly modified but journalists, publishers, filmmakers and newspaper writers were still vicil servants of the state, still restricted by the state's regulations. A new constitution was introduced in 1989 after the commencement of the Constitutional Referendum that occurred in February 1989. The Constitution stated that Journalist would receive greater freedom in their publication by law.

1990s-200s
In 1990, the state monopoly on the publication of the press was rescinded. The 1990s era in Algeria was one that pushed for democratic liberation in Algeria. The theme of the 1990s In Algeria was one of greater violence and political unrest due to control the government took over journalists. In May of 1993 58 journalist in Algeria were killed by suspicious extremist group who believed journalist should maintain under the order of the government or will suffer the consequences. In the 1990s to the 2000s, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ordered several newspaper closures, imprisoned journalists such as Mohammad Benchicou, director of Le Matin and author of a critical biography of Bouteflika, and forced other reporters into exile, mostly in France.

Reporters Without Borders's (RSF in French) index for freedom of press gives approximatively 40 for Algeria since five years (although the figure has increased, signifying a lesser freedom of press). Along with L'Humanité newspaper, RWF did denounce the imprisonment of Mohammad Benchicou, director of Le Matin, who was sentenced to two years in prison for denouncing corruption in Algeria. Benchicou was awarded in 2006 the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.

Algeria continued to experience many attacks on freedom of press, apart from Mohammad Benchicou's imprisonment. The La Tribune newspaper was closed in 1996 and the Sam blog was censored in March 2006. El Watan also suffered from attacks from the Algerian state in 1998. Its reporters had, according to RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), been targeted by both government forces and Islamist insurgents. Journalists from Liberté and from Le Matin were forced into exile in France.

2010-2020s
The 2010s and on, there has been a large push by the government to incarcerate and arrest journalist within Algeria who have criticized the goverment in any way. In 2011Fatima Zahraa Amara who worked for a publication in Algeria called Akher Sa3a, was incarcerated for two months and given a fine of 20,000 Algerian dollars. In January 2012, Algeria introduced a new media law that got rid of many confing aspect of the previous law in 1990. The law itself was later known to have inputted "undue restrictions on media ownership and management". In 2013 Algeria blocked two prominent newspaper called Daily Mon Journal and i Djaridati .In May 2018, Marzoug Touati, a blogger was incarcerated and fined fro civil disobedience. In April 2020, El País reported that the authorities had blocked the websites Maghreb Emergent and Radio M, which had been critical of the regime. Journalist Khaled Drareni who worked for Radio M and reported on the 2019–2020 Algerian protests was arrested in March 2020. Recently a well-know Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi was sentences to 3 years, his companies: Interface Media Group & Radio M were order to be shut down and him and his companies received fine of 1.7 million Algerian dinars.