Newspapers, radio and TV in the Democratic Republic of Congo have shut down to protest at a hike in internet prices.<\/p>\n
The price hike soared by at least 35%, a situation the Press Union referred to as a breach of the people’s right to access information.<\/p>\n
The union had called for a “day of no press” but some broadcasters, including the national broadcaster, are still on air.<\/p>\n
Civil society has expressed concern.<\/p>\n
The call for a news blackout in DR Congo has been largely observed in Goma, the main city in the east, BBC Monitoring reports.<\/p>\n
The National Union of the Congolese Press called for a “Lundi Sans Presse” (Monday Without Press).<\/p>\n
Radio Pole FM and privately-owned Virunga Business Radio are off air, though earlier in the morning the latter was carrying a relay of Radio France Internationale’s news broadcast.<\/p>\n
Tayna Community Radio and Television has only been playing music while the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi did not follow the call.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Maud Jullien reports that the blackout comes after concerns about restrictions to press freedom ahead of elections in November.<\/p>\n
The telecoms regulator has since called on mobile operators to reduce their prices, saying the move had violated regulations.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Radio Okapi, government spokesman Lambert Mende said mobile service providers had raised the internet charges independently, and were not influenced by the government.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Newspapers, radio and TV in the Democratic Republic of Congo have shut down to protest at a hike in internet prices. The price hike soared by at least 35%, a situation the Press Union referred to as a breach of the people’s right to access information. The union had called for a “day of no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":224099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107,106],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n