Algeria suspends press licence of Saudi owned MBC news outlet
Algeria has suspended the operating licence of Saudi Arabia owned MBC outlet Al-Arabiya amid accusations of reporting bias over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
According to Al-Monitor, the country’s Ministry of Communications announced the withdrawal of international Arabic news channel’s license on October 20th, giving no official reason for the suspension.
Iranian state media, however, reported that the network was penalised due to the portrayal of the Levantine wars in a way that weakens the morale of the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
Algeria has a rocky history with Al-Arabiya, removing its press accreditation in 2021 for “not respecting the rules of professional ethics and practising media misinformation and manipulation.”
The move came just one day after Iraq revoked the licence of Saudi media conglomerate MBC Group, the parent company of Al-Arabiya, and closed their domestic offices.
MBC aired a controversial report on October 18th which sparked a violent protest Baghdad.
In the broadcast, slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani and others were called “terrorists”.
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According to Al-Monitor, angry crowd of 400 to 500 people gathered outside MBC’s offices in Baghdad later that day.
They ransacked the facility and a fire was started inside part of the building.
A source from Iraq’s Interior Ministry told AFP the office’s electronic equipment and computers had been destroyed.
Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission said: “In light of the MBC satellite channel’s violation of the media broadcasting regulations through its repeated transgressions and its attacks on the martyrs, the leaders of the victory and heroic resistance who are fighting the battle of honour against the Zionist entity, we confirm that all necessary and legal measures will be taken, and it will be stopped from operating in Iraq.”
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank similarly protested outside MBC offices in Ramallah, calling for their closure.
The report has since been removed from all MBC platforms.
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The Saudi government maintains a 54% stake in the Riyadh based company, which is one of the largest broadcasting groups in the region.
The Saudi General Authority of Media Regulation (GMedia) began investigating individuals at MBC following the revocation of its broadcasting license in Iraq.
In a statement on October 19th, GMedia said that the MBC report was “in violation of the kingdom’s media regulations and policy.”
“We are continuously monitoring the extent in which media outlets adhere to the kingdom’s media regulations and content controls, and will not be lenient in enforcing the rules on any violators.”
Al-Monitor and Agencies
