Media in Chad

The Haute Autorité des Médias et de l’Audiovisuel (HAMA) is Chad’s nationwide media regulator. HAMA registers television, radio, print and online outlets, handles licensing and professional procedures, regulates election coverage and can issue warnings, suspend programmes or organisations, impose fines and withdraw licences. Its Conseil has nine members, with three-year mandates that can be renewed once. HAMA decisions should give reasons, be published and remain open to challenge. Chad has public and private media. The country has about ten regularly appearing newspapers, around 60 radio stations and four private television channels, mainly in N’Djamena. HAMA counted about 197 media outlets in 2025, with fewer than half assessed as professional. Radio and community radio have particular reach, including programmes using local languages. Television and online media are more unevenly accessible outside major urban areas. Private radio and television companies need a HAMA licence and must meet a cahier des charges. Their application files can include the RCCM, NIF, technical coverage information, staff details, an editorial line, pluralism measures, advertising arrangements and protection for minors. Print and online outlets follow a different procedure involving HAMA avis conforme, a declaration or récépissé and dépôt légal. Current licence and application fees are not reliably published, and no dependable standard processing time is available. Journalists can apply for a Carte d’identité professionnelle by providing identity, activity and media or status evidence. Event coverage may require accréditation based on identity, the media outlet, reporting period, team, assignment letter and technical needs. Journalistic duties include accuracy, respect for sources and privacy, professional ethics and compliance with applicable law. HAMA has sanctioned media for publication stoppages and failure to comply with dépôt légal; in March 2024, Décision n°015 suspended 31 information organisations. The Constitution formally protects freedom of expression, communication and the press, but practical access to official information can be difficult. Journalists may face pressure, surveillance, arbitrary detention, violence and restrictions, with provincial reporting particularly exposed. The legal position also requires care: government descriptions refer to decriminalised press offences, while Criminal Code Article 343 has been documented as providing six months to five years of imprisonment and a CFAF 50,000 to 500,000 fine for spreading unproven or false information. A media activity that is formally permitted can therefore still carry practical and legal risks. Internet access is concentrated in mobile networks. ITU data for 2024 recorded active mobile-broadband use at 17.3 subscriptions per 100 people, with 2G coverage at 86.9%, 3G at 84.5% and LTE or WiMAX at 60%; 5G coverage was 0%. About 75.1% of the population lived in rural areas in January 2025. Device prices, data costs and network availability vary by provider and region, and current nationwide tariff data is not reliable enough for a fixed cost estimate. Chad has no directly documented independent OTT streaming ecosystem; people access audiovisual content through satellite, cable, IP, web and mobile internet services within a fragmented market. Social media had about 1.68 million active user identities in January 2025, equal to 8.1% of the population, although identities do not necessarily represent unique people. HAMA warned in September 2025 about false Facebook pages. A major platform and social-media blockade lasted about 472 days during 2018–2019; no election-related shutdown was reported in 2024, although cyberattacks caused service outages. Desinformation training and updated digital rules remain reported needs. People can participate through radio call-ins, listening clubs, SMS services and community feedback centres. UNICEF-supported initiatives include Khabar ley Banat with FM Liberté and Radio Espoir, U-Report through the keyword BANAT sent by SMS to 1301, and community radio activities in Radio Kadaye and Baga-Sola using four local languages. Community platforms reached 777,705 people in 2024. For the 2026 election framework, HAMA rules provide each candidate with five minutes of campaign reporting and three minutes for a recorded message, alongside an equal-treatment requirement; formal access does not by itself guarantee balanced pluralism in practice. Children’s protection is part of the HAMA licensing file, and a 2025 UNICEF/HAMA children’s journalism competition shows a supported opportunity for youth participation.