In a bid to bolster propaganda, the military regime has prohibited history teachers from speaking to foreign media.
Following the arrest of Algerian historian Mohamed Amin Belghith, who appeared on Sky News Arabia, Algerian universities issued a directive preventing history teachers from making statements to foreign media outlets. This move aims to regulate academic discourse and align it with official state policies.
The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Hassiba Ben Bouali University in Chlef has forbidden history teachers from making statements or conducting interviews with any foreign media without prior authorization.
An internal memo addressed to history department professors stated, “In accordance with the regulatory instructions in higher education institutions and to protect the university’s image while ensuring the coherence of academic discourse with the official guidelines of the state, all history professors are requested to refrain from making any statements or conducting interviews with foreign media, whether visual, audio, written, or electronic, without obtaining prior and explicit authorization from the administration.”
The directive emphasized that “any statement outside this framework constitutes a violation of administrative procedures and may expose the individual to disciplinary accountability according to the applicable regulations.” The decision directed those concerned to “strictly adhere to the content of the memo.”
