Mauritius
Mauritius is ranked 63 out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI), a ranking published by the French NGO — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on an annual basis. The African country is progressing with one place compared to its ranking in 2022.
The island of Mauritius is a constitutional republic located off the Western coast of Africa. The country has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the entire African continent and has a reputation as a country where democracy thrives.
Compared to other African states, Mauritius consistently ranks high in WPFI and has a great level of journalistic freedom. Despite that, there are some weaknesses in the media environment in the country such as constant interventions from the government in the sphere of journalism and some laws that can be considered oppressive for media liberty.
The press freedom in Mauritius has kept a steady level for the past few years as no major increases or declines have been observed in its RSF rating. There are several TV channels, radio stations, and newspapers in the country that cover a wide variety of topics and express opinions freely on different subjects concerning Mauritian society.
According to the 2022 Global Freedom Status, a research conducted by Freedom House annually, Mauritius is a free country with a flourishing democracy. Their freedom rating is 85/100, the highest throughout all the African countries. Mauritius is also ranked 23 out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index, an annual research conducted by Vision of Humanity.
There are no recorded cases of journalists being murdered or kidnapped since Mauritius became a republic in 1992 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and multiple other sources, which is another positive sign for media freedom in the country.
However, Mauritius still has some problems when it comes to the liberty of journalism. According to BBC, the national mainstream media is on the government’s side and often advocates all government policies and ideas. This propaganda shapes public opinion and can harm the quality of democracy in the country.
The political polarization of the two big media groups in Mauritius has led to increasing tension between them. The lack of independence has a long-lasting negative effect on the quality of journalism in the country.
According to Cipesa, self-censorship is another substantial challenge in Mauritian media. In 2018, the Mauritian government amended the Information and Communications Technologies Act (ICTA). That amendment limited the freedom of online communication.
According to Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), that decision enabled government officials to block social media accounts and track down users using their IP addresses. This law also enforced possible legal action and up to 10 years in prison for online speech that the government can consider “inconvenient,” to the reader or the receiver.
As reported by Cipesa and EFF, this move raised several concerns regarding human rights, media liberty, and overall freedom of speech in Mauritius. Many Mauritian journalists remain cautious toward the ICT amendment and expressed fears about their privacy and the state of cybersecurity in the country.
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Vasil Paskov is a second-year student at the American University in Bulgaria, who plans to double major in Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Science & International Relations. He desires to stay in Bulgaria and pursue a career in investigative journalism.
