Tunisia: Controversy surrounding the ban on sidewalk microphones in the capital

Hibapress

In meteoric rise for years, the sidewalk microphones which have become widely popular in Tunisia are threatened by new banning measures by the Tunisian authorities, raising fears about the preservation of media freedom in the country.

The Tunisian Minister of the Interior justified the ban on sidewalk microphones with the objective of “putting an end to practices affecting the image of Tunisian society, the culture of Tunisians and which harm the image of Tunisian society in front of nations and young people who follow social networks.

This decision comes after the proliferation of media outlets specializing in the micro-sidewalk, which take over Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the main artery of the Tunisian capital, to carry out interviews with ordinary citizens on political, economic and social subjects of news.

Reacting to this decision, the Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) denounced this attempt to exercise “prior control over public freedoms such as freedom of opinion, thought, expression, media and publication,” which contradicts international standards and the Tunisian Constitution.

“It is not permitted to subject sidewalk microphones intended to produce content for the media and social networks to approaches based on arguments such as attacks on dignity,” explains the union, noting that the revision laws in the area of ​​rights and freedoms must be the subject of in-depth public debate to identify problems and find solutions.

Several media outlets which rely on this technique to produce content have not hidden their dissatisfaction with this measure which risks further narrowing their margin of freedom and depriving them of a niche very popular with Tunisians, given the variety of topics covered.

Rights defenders, for their part, are worried about the future of freedoms in the country, faced with a new repressive offensive against the media which use the sidewalk microphone to collect spontaneous and authentic reactions on the subjects of news.

Quoted by the media, Judge Omar Wesleti considers that the ban on the sidewalk microphone is contrary to the Tunisian constitution which clearly prohibits any control over freedom of expression, recalling that one of the articles of the constitution states that the freedom of “opinion, thought, expression, media and publication are guaranteed and it is not authorized to exercise any prior control of these freedoms.”

“freedom of expression must be preserved as one of the human rights without any complex administrative restrictions,” he insisted.

While some believe that the practice of the sidewalk microphone contributes to the democratization of information by giving voice to ordinary citizens, others criticize a manipulation of the responses of passers-by and an attack on the image of the country, which could prolong the debate on the subject.

This measure comes at a time when the country is experiencing a wave of arrests and legal proceedings against journalists, sparking widespread indignation from NGOs and human rights associations.

On Friday, the journalist and audiovisual figure in Tunisia, Mohamed Boughalleb, was placed in police custody for “disseminating defamatory remarks” via social networks. A support campaign was launched on social networks in favor of this columnist, who is one of the critical voices of power in Tunisia.

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