Following a suspension and funds being withheld on multiple occasions, the Tunisian authorities have stepped up their offensive on the independent press. On 11 May 2026, the Tunis Court of First Instance will examine a request to dissolve Al Khatt, an association that runs the investigative news site Inkyfada. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) firmly condemns this attempt to silence the iconic independent outlet.
“The dissolution proceedings brought against Inkyfada is an act of institutional censorship. The Tunisian authorities are trying to use the justice system to eliminate what they have been unable to silence via suspension and financial suffocation. The right of the Tunisian public to a pluralist media landscape, capable of reflecting and shedding light on the realities and challenges of their lives now hangs in the balance. RSF calls for this unjust procedure to be dropped immediately.”
The Al Khatt association was founded in 2013 and has managed the investigative platform Inkyfada — which is known for the quality of its reporting on the country’s political and social realities — since 2014. “Inkyfada was born inside Al Khatt, which incubated it, partly funded it, and above all protected it by guaranteeing the newsroom full editorial independence. It is this framework that makes the journalism we do possible,” says Malek Khadhraoui, Publication Director of Inkyfada and a member of RSF’s Board of Directors.
Since late 2023, Al Khatt has been subject to mounting pressure. Inkyfada’s funds have been withheld repeatedly — sometimes for up to seven months — and the outlet was even suspended for a month in October 2025. In January 2026, it was summoned before the Financial Crimes Unit of the National Guard despite having submitted all the required documents at every stage, according to RSF. “For the past two years, the measures targeting Al Khatt have had a direct impact on the work of Inkyfada’s journalists,” adds Malek Khadhraoui.
This type of harassment is an attack on both independent media outlets and civil society. These proceedings are illustrative of the forces driving the erosion of Tunisia’s rapidly shrinking media and civic space. In October 2024, the independent outlet Nawaat was already suspended for thirty days following a year-long administrative and financial audit. Two journalists remain behind bars, and Decree-Law 54 continues to be used against independent voices.
Tunisia ranks 129th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
