The largest country in sub-Saharan Africa by area, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has more than 7,000 professional journalists, more than 500 newspapers (only about 15 of which are published regularly), more than 150 TV channels, more than 4,000 radio stations and more than 40 online media outlets. The state radio and TV broadcaster, Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC), the UN’s Radio Okapi and Top Congo radio have national coverage. Print media is almost non-existent outside the capital, Kinshasa. News websites such as Actualité.cd and 7sur7.cd are in full development. 

The Congolese media landscape is marked by the strong presence of politicians who own or support media outlets. The national radio and TV broadcaster is a state media outlet that lacks independence. It is very common for local authorities, militias, religious groups, and politicians to exert pressure on journalists and media outlets present in their province. The Higher Council for Broadcasting and Communication (CSAC), the country’s media regulator, frequently makes decisions that hinder the right to reliable information, particularly in the context of the conflict in the eastern part of the country. The CSAC’s threats have intensified since the capture of Gona, the capital of North Kivu, by M23 rebels in January 2025. In occupied territories, the M23 attempts to impose news coverage that echoes its narrative,  particularly by threatening journalists. 

The 1996 press law was revised in April 2023 based on the recommendations of a national media convention, which called for a more modern and more protective legal framework for journalists and the media. The new law tightens the conditions for access to the profession of journalist. It does not explicitly abolish prison sentences for press offences, but it adds a  clause of bad faith in the publication of false information or allegations that have disturbed public order. In addition, it guarantees journalists access to information of public interest that is not classified and does not involve state security or national defence.

Congolese journalists and media outlets lead a very precarious existence. Employment contracts are rare and the practice of “coupage” – whereby journalists receive payment in exchange for covering an event or reporting some information – is widespread. The funding that the state has to legally provide to media outlets has never been distributed in a transparent manner. Very few media outlets are viable and independent, and most are influenced by those who back them.

Journalists are sometimes targeted on the basis of their ethnic or community affiliation and they are exposed to reprisals in connection with their work, particularly in the east of the country, where many armed groups are present. The conflict in Nord-Kivu has become difficult for the press to report on as journalists are caught between the violence of the M23 armed group and counter-attacks by the DRC’s national army. Self-censorship is  a common practice for many journalists. Covering subjects such as major corruption cases and certain mining contracts are especially difficult. 

With arrests, assaults, threats, forced disappearances, executions, media outlets suspended, looted, ransacked, and more, journalists in the DRC operate in a climate of great insecurity. Security forces are implicated in numerous abuses and enjoy total impunity. Due to the war in the eastern part of the country, many journalists are forced to flee their place of work and are subjected to attacks and persecution. Between January 2024 and January 2025 in North Kivu, more than 25 community radio stations were looted or forced to shut down, and over 50 attacks on newsrooms and journalists were documented. During the same period, over a third of the attacks against journalists that occurred in the country took place in North Kivu. Two journalists were assassinated within one month in the province, under circumstances that remain unclear. Since the M23 seized Goma in late January 2025, at least eight journalists have been detained for several days. Discouraging the armed forces via the media in wartime is punishable by death.