Sudan suspended three Arab satellite channels on Tuesday, citing expired licenses and what the government considered unprofessional reporting

The Ministry of Culture and Information suspended two Saudi state-owned broadcasters – Al Arabiya and Hadath TV – as well as the United Arab Emirates-owned Sky News Arabia channel.

Sudan’s state news agency SUNA said the decision was due to “a lack of commitment to the required professionalism and transparency and a failure to renew the license”.

The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate criticized the move by the Ministry of Information, saying it violated press freedom.

“Shutting down satellite channels and restricting those working in the industry will silence the voices of professional media and open the door to the spread of rumors and hate speech,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sudan is already a challenging environment for journalists. In 2023, the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders ranked its media freedom 148th out of 180 countries.

The civil war between Sudan’s two military factions has exacerbated difficulties faced by journalists, media and press freedom groups reported.

Some of the information in this report comes from Reuters.