French broadcaster Canal+ has been hit with another financial penalty by Burkina Faso’s media regulator after authorities accused the company of failing to comply with rules requiring free access to state television channels.
The regulator imposed a fine of 200 million CFA francs (about $350,000), significantly higher than the 50 million CFA franc sanction issued in June for the same alleged violation.
Officials said Canal+ is expected to keep the channels of the state-owned broadcaster, RTB, available to subscribers even after their paid subscriptions have ended.
The requirement is contained in a 2024 agreement between Canal+ International and Burkina Faso’s media regulator, which obliges the company to carry the public broadcaster’s channels at no extra cost.
According to the regulator, Canal+ failed to meet the 30-day compliance deadline that followed the earlier sanction.
In a statement issued on Monday, the head of the media watchdog, Louis Modeste Ouedraogo, said the company had not implemented the regulator’s decision within the required timeframe, leading to the tougher punishment.
Burkina Faso has been governed by Captain Ibrahim Traore since he took control in a 2022 military coup.
Since assuming power, the military government has suspended several prominent Western media outlets, including France’s RFI and France 24, expelled foreign correspondents, and faced criticism over alleged restrictions on dissent, especially concerning its handling of the country’s decade-long jihadist conflict.
