The Media Foundation for West Africa’s October 2025 monitoring documented multiple freedom of expression violations across eight West African countries: Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Burkina Faso.
The breakdown of the violations is as follows: ten cases of arrest and detention, two separate cases of media suspensions, one incident of a threat, one incident of verbal assault, one attempted abduction, and eight abductions.
This October 2025 report, put together by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), with support from the 11th Hour Project of The Schmidt Family Foundation, seeks to draw attention to the freedom of expression situation in West Africa, provide evidence for advocacy and policy interventions.
The report is compiled from data gathered through daily monitoring of the freedom of expression environment in the 16 countries by monitors, correspondents and national partner organisations of the MFWA. Access the report here.
