Equatorial Guinea
For the last five years Equatorial Guinea, a country in Central Africa, has not seen any significant changes in its World Press Freedom Index ranking. It takes 165th place out of 180 for 2020.
The World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) is a press freedom index which ranks 180 countries around the world on media freedom. It provides information concerning the media in each country. The independent non-profit organization (NGO) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) created the ranking and observes the state of freedom of information every day.
The government of Equatorial Guinea prevents its people from their civil liberties. Freedom House is an NGO based in the U.S. that is responsible for analyzing, advocating, and supporting of democracy, human rights and political freedom. According to their global freedom score, Equatorial Guinea is “not free” as it has total score of 6 out of 100, 0 out of 40 score for political rights and 6 out of 60 for civil liberties.
The government is authoritarian, i.e. the power is in the hands of the President Teodoro Obiang Nguema who has been the leader since 1979. The news coverage is controlled closely by the president and the media outlets are dependent on him. The Vice President Teodorin Obiang, the president’s son, owns the only private television broadcaster.
Journalists in Equatorial Guinea are under self-censorship. If they try to criticize or oppose the president, they can be fired and detained and their equipment can be confiscated.
Private discussion freedom is limited, and torture and beating by security forces is common. Travelling is also limited. Foreign journalists’ visits to the country are restricted. Since 2018, all parliamentarians must get a permission from the vice president to travel abroad. Formally, there is freedom of movement but it is restricted through measures like police checkpoints that usually require bribes payment.
The government has also been trying to restrict access to opposition parties’ websites since 2013. Online Spanish newspapers are blocked. The government obstructed social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. It blocked internet access in 2017 because there were presidential elections.
Women can vote and formally have equal rights but they do not have much opportunity to organize politically and to defend their interests. They are discriminated with regard to employment. Women are not effectively protected from domestic violence and rape by laws.
LGBT community also have political rights but the societal discrimination discourages LGBT-friendly policies. Immigrants are subject to physical abuse and extortion by police.
According to RSF, there were no killed journalists for the last five years but the media freedom remains problematic. The organization says that almost half of the population around the world has no free access to information. Citizens lack the knowledge essential for their decision making and for managing their lives.
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Simona Karadzhova is studying Mathematics, Computer Science and Integrated Marketing Communication at American University in Bulgaria. She is interested in people’s freedoms around the world.
