In the latest instalment of our Press Freedom Advocates Series – which highlights the stories of lawyers defending journalists worldwide – we speak to Nadine Kampire, a Congolese journalist and lawyer.
Alongside her colleagues, Nadine co-founded Afia Amani Grands-Lacs, a media network focused on fact-checking and tackling disinformation and misinformation across the Great Lakes region.
A long-standing member of our global network of press freedom lawyers, Nadine also participated in our first-ever women-only litigation surgery, held in Nairobi in August 2022.
In early 2025, the M23 rebel group captured key cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including Goma (North Kivu’s capital) in January and Bukavu (South Kivu’s capital) in February.
These developments further deepened the humanitarian crisis in a country already grappling with protracted conflict and the lasting impacts of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 presidential elections.
As of March 2025, more than 7 million people had been internally displaced, while a further 86,000 had fled to neighbouring countries – making this one of the world’s largest displacement crises.
In this context, the spread of misinformation and disinformation has accelerated, which can obstruct critical humanitarian responses but also contribute to public health risks and growing social tensions.
The role of independent journalists in the DRC in providing accurate, impartial information is essential – but comes with significant personal risks. Despite some progress, including a revision of its press law in April 2023 and a dynamic media sector with over 7,000 professional journalists, challenges remain immense.
Independent outlets committed to accurate reporting struggle to counter the rapid spread of misinformation online, often with limited resources. Journalists regularly face harassment, arrests, enforced disappearances, and even killings. In conflict zones such as Ituri and North Kivu, they work under constant threat – from both state actors and armed groups – while editorial independence is increasingly under pressure. Public dissent, especially during escalations in the conflict carries severe consequences, creating a climate of fear.
Yet despite these dangers, local and national initiatives continue to push back. Afia Amani Grands-Lacs is one such initiative, providing accurate information on public health and politics to vulnerable communities. In our interview, Nadine Kampire spoke about the organisation’s commitment to defending press freedom and ensuring access to verified information – despite the personal and professional challenges she and her team continue to face.
Hello Nadine, thank you so much for speaking with us. Why is Freedom of expression so important to you?
Freedom of expression is a complex and very abstract concept – especially across the African Continent, where we face many diverse challenges. In many local contexts, laws meant to protect this freedom are ignored and violated. Civil society activists, journalists, and anyone standing up for public freedoms and individual rights often face threats, intimidation, and all too often, arbitrary arrests.
So, why does freedom of expression matter to me? Growing up in a war-torn country like DRC, I’ve always experienced repression first hand – observing how citizens are being targeted by their own government or being harassed by police and state security services. Those who theoretically should protect and serve the public, are often the worst abusers of the law, acting on their own or under orders from politicians to target political opponents. Having seen all these abuses, it’s therefore a subject close to my heart and the reason I’ve become deeply involved in defending this issue.
Could you share your thoughts on freedom of expression in the DRC at the moment?
Freedom of expression in the DRC is a hugely problematic issue. The situation worsened around the December 2023 general elections, as civil society activists and members of the media fraternity who opposed the president’s bid for re-election – driven by concerns over poor governance – were targeted.
There were widespread reprisals against journalists, activists, and anyone who spoke out against the incumbent president. Anyone who dared to criticise those in power or expose government failings during the campaign of the December 2023 general elections was met with intimidation tactics like arbitrary arrests and abductions, all intended to silence dissenting voices.
The situation has only worsened recently. Journalists and even opposition politicians now face arrest for criticising those in power. The actual political establishment is marred with corruption, nepotism and cronyism, where a single ethnic community is monopolising power and natural resources while silencing others.
This situation of quasi-monopoly has created an atmosphere of fear – where people are terrified to speak out against all the human rights abuses and the endemic corruption. Civil society activists are worried about state sponsored arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, or even death. In the DRC, the right of freedom of expression remains a concept that is neither fully understood nor genuinely respected.
You co-founded AFIA-AMANI Grands-Lacs, a media network promoting press freedom and fact-checking. How have challenges developed in fact-checking and reducing misinformation?
We have been facing mounting challenges in fact-checking. During the electioneering fever of 2023 we observed a significant increase in misinformation and disinformation pushed by political actors from both sides of the political divide, a trend which has since continued. Political rhetoric was fuelled by ethnic hate speech targeting certain communities, based on their perceived or alleged political allegiances to political leaders or ethnic kingpins.
Digital platforms have also become one of the key battlegrounds of political contest – politicians have been using bots and trolls, mostly manipulating young graduates in need of employment on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and to a lesser extent WhatsApp.
Reliable and objective information about what was going on across the country was almost impossible to get and fact-checking became more difficult. As political competition between the two sides intensified, we observed young people from both the ruling party and the opposition actively spreading false information on social media and WhatsApp groups.
Unfortunately, many journalists and media outlets in the DRC lack even basic fact-checking skills and knowledge. Young people, who are the main users of internet and social media, especially in conflict-affected areas like Goma in North Kivu, are vulnerable to misinformation not only about politics but also about the dynamics behind the ongoing war on the eastern side of the country.
The spread of false information becomes especially dangerous when it is perpetuated by young influential journalists or activists, whose large audiences and professional credibility lead the public to trust what they say.
The challenges we face as AFIA-AMANI Grands-Lacs include the inability to reach more young people and rural communities due to limited resources. Since the resurgence of the conflict, International NGOs that previously supported us have redirected their funding to humanitarian aid. We are now self-funded, which greatly hampers our efforts, especially in educating people about fact-checking.
Previously, we offered basic fact-checking training through mainstream media – mainly followed by older generations – as well as on social media. However, we can no longer afford to broadcast on traditional media, as it requires funding.
We also face structural challenges especially training activists and journalists. It’s hard to tell a journalist who isn’t well-paid to remain unbiased when a politician offers them money. Despite the training we provide, journalists and activists remain vulnerable to political interference, especially because of financial constraints.
They sometimes have no choice but to accept ‘financial offers’ from politicians making them de facto foot-soldiers used to push a particular political agenda or misinformation.
Your organisation also works to inform communities in local languages and dialects. Do these communities – particularly those in rural or remote areas – face additional risks to freedom of expression?
What we aim to do is provide information in languages understood by local communities, more specifically cross border communities living in the North Kivu, and Sud-Kivu provinces of the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi. We offer content in Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and French. Freedom of expression and access to information, especially concerning reliable information, is not easy matter.
For Instance, a citizen living in a remote village in North Kivu province, and who only speaks Kinyarwanda as his native language, may not be able to fully understand information broadcasted in French or in Swahili. Most of time, people tend to share information without understanding its content or verifying its accuracy – passing it on to others on WhatsApp or other social media platforms and unintentionally contributing to the spread of fake news.
In the case of rural communities, with low literacy rates, access to information is complicated. Content published on online platforms is mostly published in local languages, making it more accessible. However, tech companies do not moderate content in these local languages, which poses a serious challenge for those of us working to combat misinformation and hold these companies accountable.
Internet connectivity issues in rural areas further compound the problem, with only 28% of the DRC having internet coverage – mostly concentrated in urban centres. In many rural regions, the lack of access makes it difficult for people to get accurate information or freely express their views.
Additionally, the ongoing conflict in eastern province of DRC, which has displaced many people, both internally and externally, further complicates the situation.
Given the harsh living conditions caused by rampant insecurity, combined with volatile tensions and hate speech targeting communities accused of supporting armed rebellion, it is extremely difficult for affected populations to access reliable information or distinguish objective reporting from official propaganda, let alone express themselves freely without fear.
Could you share some key moments that led you to choose this challenging career path?
In 2020, during the COVID-19 and Ebola pandemics, the DRC government attempted to censor information – particularly by downplaying case numbers in an effort to project a positive image of the state.
I think this in combination with all the experiences that I have mentioned above, have built my resilience and filled my spirit with commitment and the passion to become an advocate. I will keep using my platform and my voice to support other activists and journalists in similar situations, striving for positive change in our communities.
In this regard, my personal motto, and that of AFIA AMANI Grands lacs my organisation, is “Good information saves lives.” This has been a driving force in my career.
