Skip to main content

New Tunisian law targets those spreading 'fake news' about food shortages

Tunisia’s president says he is waging a war on speculators hoarding food, but his new decree-law also includes an article that forbids the spreading of “false news and information” about food shortages and the supply chain.
Tunisian man holding a baguette is carried by fellow protesters during a demonstration in Tunis on Jan. 18, 2011.

Leading human rights organization Amnesty International said that Tunisia’s presidential decree-law threatens Tunisians' freedom to discuss and challenge its leaders about the ongoing food shortages in Tunisia.  

Images of Tunisians queuing for bread outside bakeries and empty shop shelves where flour, rice and vegetable oil should be have flooded the press and social media since mid-February with seemingly no end in sight, which — just ahead of Ramadan — is particularly disheartening for Tunisians worried about political and economic instability.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.