Loi N° 044-2019/AN du 21 juin 2019 portant modification de la loi N° 025-2018/AN du 31 mai 2018 portant Code pénal (Burkina Faso 2019 Penal Code amendment, offences on publication of information relating to security and military operations and to 'false news')

Law No. 044-2019/AN of 21 June 2019 amended Burkina Faso's Penal Code (Law No. 025-2018/AN of 31 May 2018) to introduce a set of speech-related offences that bear directly on digital rights and online expression. Adopted in the context of the country's counter-terrorism effort, the amendment was widely criticised by press-freedom and human-rights organisations (Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists) as overbroad and liable to criminalise legitimate journalism, human-rights documentation and ordinary social-media activity. The amendment inserts articles 312-14 to 312-16, which penalise the dissemination, including via the internet and social media, of information, images or sounds relating to the movements, positions or weapons of the defence and security forces, or to scenes of terrorist offences, where this is likely to harm public order or compromise a military or counter-terrorism operation. Penalties range from one to five years' imprisonment and substantial fines, and reporting on terrorist incidents can attract up to ten years where the conduct is found to compromise operations. Article 312-16 requires prior authorisation before disseminating images or sounds of scenes of terrorist offences, effectively introducing a permission regime for certain reporting. The reform also reinforced provisions on the publication of 'false news' (fausses nouvelles). Because these offences apply to online and social-media dissemination and turn on broadly defined notions such as 'harm to public order' and 'compromising operations', they create significant uncertainty for journalists, bloggers and citizens reporting on the security situation, and have a clear chilling effect on online expression. The constitutionality of the amendment was challenged before the Conseil constitutionnel, which upheld it (Decision No. 2019-013/CC), so the provisions remain in force. This entry is recorded under Digital Rights as Burkina Faso's principal instrument restricting online expression; substantive cyber-dependent offences are documented separately in the Penal Code cybercrime entry (bf-cyber-2018), to which this amendment is related. Internet and social-media restrictions in 2022-2023 were imposed on national-security grounds under general emergency/'general mobilisation' powers rather than under this Act, and are noted as a jurisdiction-level gap. A reliable Journal Officiel consolidated text of Law No. 044-2019/AN should be added by a reviewer; the Conseil constitutionnel decision is recorded as the most authoritative source presently located. Source language: French.

1. 1Amends the 2018 Penal Code (Law No. 025-2018/AN) to add speech-related offences (arts. 312-14 to 312-16) applying to dissemination via the internet and social media
2. 2Criminalises publishing information, images or sounds on the movements, positions or weapons of the defence and security forces likely to harm public order (1 - 5 years' imprisonment and fines)
3. 3Penalises dissemination of material on scenes of terrorist offences that could compromise counter-terrorism operations, with reporting attracting up to 10 years in aggravated cases
4. 4Article 312-16 requires prior authorisation to disseminate images or sounds of scenes of terrorist offences, a permission regime for certain reporting
5. 5Reinforces 'false news' (fausses nouvelles) offences
6. 6Broad terms ('harm to public order', 'compromising operations') create a chilling effect on journalists, bloggers and social-media users reporting on security matters
7. 7Upheld as constitutional by the Conseil constitutionnel (Decision No. 2019-013/CC); criticised by Amnesty International, RSF and CPJ
8. 8Related to the Penal Code cybercrime entry (bf-cyber-2018); JO consolidated text flagged for reviewer