Mauritania Blocks Website For Publishing Fake News About Algeria

Since Friday, the Mauritanian authorities have blocked the news website “Anbaa Info,” known for its fervent defence of the Moroccan regime and its expansionist policies, and its gratuitous targeting of Algeria.

This controversial online newspaper had previously prompted the Algerian embassy in Nouakchott to issue a strongly worded statement against it, though without mentioning it by name.

The editor-in-chief of this news website, Cheikh Ahmed Lamine, issued press statements to Moroccan media on Monday following the blocking of his website. He implicitly accused Algeria of being behind the punishment issued by the Mauritanian authorities. He said, “We leave the answer to public opinion. However, it is legitimate to question the parties that regularly attacked the website because of its independent editorial positions, especially on sensitive issues related to some neighbouring countries.”

Cheikh Ahmed Lamine also confirmed that his website was blocked: “We contacted the relevant authorities in Mauritania to understand the reasons for this blocking, but we did not receive any official response, neither from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority nor from the bodies responsible for media and the digital space, such as the High Authority for Press and Audiovisual (HAPA).”

The controversial online newspaper was blocked for 60 days in March 2024. That day, Mauritania’s High Authority for Press and Audiovisual sharply criticised the Anbaa Info website for publishing fake news about Algeria. The newspaper, which wrote with great praise for the Moroccan regime, vigorously defended its expansionist agenda, even targeting the Mauritanian state, which the Alawite palace considers an extension of its southern sovereignty, or what the political elites in the western neighbour describe as the “true borders,” and which the Moroccan constitution also affirms.

In January 2023, the Algerian embassy in Nouakchott accused the Anbaa Info online newspaper of “working for a hostile state,” referring to the Moroccan regime. In a statement at the time, it said, “We are surprised to see a series of articles inspired by shadowy networks,” describing the website as “the diplomatic office of a country known for its hatred of Algeria,” whose goal was to “sabotage and harass Algerian-Mauritanian cooperation, since the momentum instilled by the state visit of President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani to Algeria.”

The statement strongly attacked Anbaa Info and other websites like it, accusing them of: “These websites are recruited through visas, leisure trips, advertisements, corruption, and financial sums directed at mercenaries of the pen, who have no credibility or influence over public opinion.” It added: “For every horrific, malicious sentence, and article based on lies and distorted facts, their shameful enslavement reveals a blatant lack of professionalism and reflects a well-known brand.”

The Algerian embassy in Nouakchott has long complained about some Mauritanian media that serve the Moroccan regime’s agenda and target Algeria and its interests gratuitously. In September 2021, the Algerian ambassador submitted a request to the High Authority for Press and Audiovisual to take action against some Mauritanian media that are brokers who violate the professional ethics of journalism.

Among the articles published by this mercenary news website was an article aimed at undermining relations between Algeria and Nouakchott. The article included the following: “Why did Algeria not offer its condolences to the Mauritanians following the death of a member of the presidential guard on its territory? Why did its press ignore this tragedy?” This article was the subject of intervention by Mauritania’s High Authority for Press and Audiovisual, which reprimanded the aforementioned newspaper on March 10, 2024.

That day, Anbaa Info’s editor-in-chief, Cheikh Ahmed Lamine, attempted to justify the professional lapse by saying that the article for which his newspaper was penalised “did not constitute an attack on Algeria, but rather an analysis of an incident.” However, his staunch defence of the Moroccan regime, in turn, put him in the dock.