Dakar, Feb 19 (APS) – The National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (CNRA) declares that it is “constant and determined” to “not let anyone broadcast, for hours and live, scenes of violence involving children and adolescents”.
In a statement, the CNRA, ”right in its boots”, wants to be ”inflexible” on this issue which should not be politicized, according to the text received from its president, Babacar Diagne.
“The media regulatory body will not allow anyone to broadcast, for hours and live, scenes of violence involving children and adolescents,” reads the statement, alluding to the CNRA’s decision to suspend , last February 10 and for seven days, the broadcast of Walf TV programs.
He accuses this private television of having broadcast “looped images showing violence” in Mbacké (center), “in total violation of the regulations” of the audiovisual sector.
The CNRA had warned in its decision that in the event of a repeat offence, following the resumption of the broadcasting of its programmes, Walf TV “might see its agreement terminated definitively”.
The CNRA’s criticisms of Walf TV stem from coverage of a rally that Pastef, the party of opponent Ousmane Sonko, held in Mbacké on 10 February.
The security forces prevented the meeting of Mr. Sonko, mayor of Ziguinchor (south) and candidate for the presidential election of 2024, with his supporters.
Prohibited from accessing the boulevard where their demonstration was to be held, the opponent and his supporters turned back, traversing the streets of the city in several cars.
”On this issue, despite the rallies and other vociferations, the CNRA will remain constant and determined”, assures the regulator in its statement sent to APS on Sunday.
Babacar Diagne asserts that “the ‘sold airtime’ argument put forward as a line of defense by Walf TV is simply unacceptable, especially since two years ago the company was put on notice and sanctioned for acts of the same nature.
“We are facing a case of recidivism”, argues the regulator, arguing that the damage of screen violence on children and adolescents is “an indisputable fact, scientifically proven”. ”So there might be no specificity on this issue. No regulator in the world would accept it”, argues Babacar Diagne.
”It’s regarding the future of our children and our country”
He says he refuses to dwell ”on the completely inadequate comparisons between the events of the Capitol and the Yellow Vests that occurred in countries where children are very protected”.
The president of the CNRA alludes to the attack perpetrated once morest the Capitol, the seat of the American legislative power, in Washington, by people presented as supporters of former American president Donald Trump.
This assault on January 6, 2021 was part of a context of contestation of the results of the 2020 American presidential election.
Babacar Daigne also suggests that the facts for which the Walf TV signal was suspended are not comparable to the social movement that appeared in France from October 2018, including the Yellow Vests – name given by allusion to the yellow vests worn by protesters – are the protesting tip.
The Walfadjri group, claiming to be the victim of “relentlessness”, organized a protest sit-in on Friday in which politicians, but also media and civil society figures participated.
Some attendees of this rally compared media coverage of the Capitol events and Yellow Vest protests with the way Walf TV broadcast the banned Pastef rally.
”I understand the propensity of our compatriots to politicize all issues, but this cannot be politicized, commented Babacar Diagne. This is regarding the future of our children and our country.”
