Tunisia shuts information agency, sparking outcry

Tunisian rights groups condemned the government’s closure of the National Authority for Access to Information, an independent body created in 2016 after the Arab Spring to guarantee citizens’ and journalists’ right to information, reports AFP. The journalists’ union said the move, carried out “in secret,” marks a major setback for press freedom. Critics accuse President Kais Saied of dismantling democratic safeguards since his 2021 power grab.