Somalia

Since the fall of the Siad Barre dictatorship in 1991 ended the state's monopoly on the media, Somalia's media sector has grown and diversified despite an extremely hostile and unstable environment. Radio remains the main source of news for most Somalis, while television is largely an urban phenomenon and print media has faded in favour of online outlets. Yet this growth has not translated into independence: many media houses are directly owned by politicians, members of parliament and government officials, and each federated state maintains outlets that often function as mouthpieces for local authorities.

Safety of journalists

Somali journalists face a wide range of threats, from arrest, harassment and torture to sexual assault against women journalists and murder. Al-Shabaab, the group linked to al-Qaeda, is the leading perpetrator of journalist killings and specifically targets those who refuse to censor their reporting. Journalists investigating corruption or other sensitive topics face particular risk, and authorities in Somaliland and Puntland have been especially repressive towards local media in recent years. Somalia's legal system offers little protection: journalists are often tried in military courts or under a penal code dating back to the military dictatorship, and a long-promised moratorium on the arrest of journalists has yet to be adopted.

A media sector under political and structural pressure

Beyond direct violence, Somalia's media faces deep structural challenges. The body meant to safeguard the sector's independence, the Media Council, has itself come under political control: in 2024, the Minister of Information appointed six government allies out of nine council members, undermining the very mechanism designed to protect journalists. Corruption is widespread, and state subsidies are opaquely channeled toward outlets favorable to the government. Meanwhile, clan culture continues to shape how news is produced and shared, making balanced, independent coverage difficult, while topics such as gender, sexual orientation and regional geopolitics remain effectively taboo. In this fragile information environment, mis- and disinformation spread easily, at real cost to public trust and safety.

Our work in Somalia

Free Press Unlimited has long supported Somalia's media sector as a vital link between citizens, authorities and disaster response systems. Through the Dan Wadaag initiative, we work to strengthen the social contract between communities and institutions by promoting inclusive and transparent disaster risk management, recognising that a trustworthy media is essential to keeping the public informed and authorities accountable, particularly in the early stages of a crisis.

Between 2023 and 2025, Free Press Unlimited led a consortium implementing a project called "Building an Independent, Sustainable Media Sector and Strengthening Resilience to Disinformation in Somalia". Working across six Somali cities, the programme strengthened the media's enabling environment, professionalised journalism, and countered mis- and disinformation. Over three years, 240 young journalists were trained, Puntland State University launched Somalia's first Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the country's first systematised digital tool for documenting press freedom violations became operational. The programme also supported 34 new employment contracts across 25 media stations and trained 72 journalists with disabilities. Real, tangible progress that continued investment can help build on in the years to come.

Figures below as of August 2026