Controversy strikes Burkina Faso, as it is reported that the military junta in the country has suspended Voice of America’s broadcasters for a total of 3 months. This suspension was over the broadcasters coverage of militant attacks in the country and neighboring country of Mali. The validation of this suspension of news was stated by the Burkina Faso’s media regulator that the VOA broadcast was to “undermine the morale of the armed forces in the two countries.” The junta recently seized power in 2022, and the junta in the conflict-battered West Africa has faced criticism for its accused targeting of journalist and activist that speak against the Junta and current government of Burkina Faso. This is not the first reporting of journalist platforms from being suspended, rather earlier this year there was a two week suspension of the VOA and the BBC for their coverage of reports by Human Rights Watch on the mass killing of civilians by the countries own armed forces.
This is not only a threat to the citizens of Burkina Faso, but this censoring could affect the depiction of conflicts with other countries, such as the militant attacks in the neighboring state of Mali. There could be other militant attacks in other neighboring states, such as Ghana, Togo, Benin, ect., but because of the censorship of these foreign-international journalism platforms, these attacks could fly under the radar. There is also the issue of the of these international journalism platform being at jeopardy, this could weaken Burkina Faso relationship with other countries in turn, such as the BBC and association with the UK, and ect. This censorship of the media makes rational sense in this situation. With the new rise of the Burkina Faso’s military junta in the past 2 years, thoughts and opinions against the junta threaten the validity and strength of the power. Power means influence in the game of politics and military technique.
This shows that Burkina Faso uses a dominance solution to insert their power and influence. The dominance solution is how a state cooperates in the international arena with other states, through the means of establishing a power hierarchy in which those at the top control those below. This solution of dominance is inserted both to the independent journalism platforms, as well as the bordering states, in this example, it was the African state of Mali. The solution to different international situations can be dominance, but the real question to ask regarding Burkina Faso’s political situation is, how long will this dominance be able to be asserted? Will foreign powers push back against this dominance, and how will this affect the rest of the international community?