The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) will host a webinar on August 13, 2025, to examine the growing weaponisation of laws by governments and powerful actors against dissent and accountability journalism in West Africa.
The event, themed Silencing Expression: Legal Threats against Journalists and Activists in West Africa, will bring together participants from across the subregion to assess this alarming trend and propose solutions. Outcomes from the discussion will aim to inform public policy and guide activism to counter the problem.
Across West Africa, journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and civil society actors face increasing legal harassment. These abuses often take the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), criminal defamation, civil libel, and other forms of judicial harassment. Such tactics are used to intimidate accountability watchdogs, hinder investigative journalism, discourage citizen mobilisation, and constrict civic space.
The webinar will explore:
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How SLAPPs, defamation laws, and vague legal provisions are exploited against free expression and activism
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The chilling effect of legal harassment on press freedom, human rights, and civic participation
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Strategies to mitigate legal risks and push back against repression
Keynote speaker Gloria Ballason Esq. (Nigeria) will be joined by Dr. Dogbemin Koné G. (Côte d’Ivoire), both members of MFWA’s West Africa Network of Media Defence Lawyers (WANAMDEL), which offers legal assistance to targeted journalists and activists, as well as Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda. The session will also feature testimonies from journalists and activists who have faced legal harassment in their work.
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Time: 9:30am GMT
Venue: Zoom (link provided in email inbox after registration)
Languages: Simultaneous English/French interpretation
Register now to join the discussion and contribute to safeguarding freedom of expression and civic space in West Africa.
