In September 2022, the Tunisian president Kais Saied signed Decree Law 54, which purported to combat "false information and rumours" on the Internet.
The president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, Mahdi Al-Jelassi, described the law as "a new setback for rights and freedoms.
The penalties for publishing in any networks are a strong blow to the revolutionary values that granted freedom to all journalists and all Tunisians", and likened the legislation to dictatorial laws the former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali used to silence dissidents.
[5][6] The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva, Switzerland, says the law allows the president to censor any and all Internet communications that he does not approve, noting that Article 24 does not specify what is a falsehood or rumour.
This includes Mehdi Zagrouba, a lawyer wrote a Facebook post accusing the justice minister of fabricating evidence in a case against 57 judges who were accused of corruption and alleged delays in the prosecution of claimed terrorism cases.