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Reporters and media organisations are caught between armed groups and the authorities. Persistent conflict has hampered media development. Officials and armed groups have targeted journalists and media outlets.

There is little support for independent journalism and media outlets are increasingly aligned with national politicians and foreign governments - especially Russia - says NGO Freedom House.

In 2021, the government accused two online news outlets, the Corbeau News and Le Tsunami, of spreading "hate speech" and "fake news" - blocking access to them.

The media outlets allege this was to stop them publishing on the activities of Russian mercenaries in the CAR.

Radio is the most popular medium. State-run Radio Centrafrique has limited FM coverage.

Radio Ndeke Luka ("bird of luck"), run by Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle, provides balanced output, and rebroadcasts international news bulletins.

The UN stabilisation mission (Minusca) runs Guira FM, which is available in the capital and in the regions. The station is named after a tree under which differences are solved.

There are about two dozen privately-owned radio stations. Many of them are run by religious organisations.

Newspapers are privately-owned. Their reach is limited by low literacy levels and a lack of distribution in rural areas.

´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service (90.2 FM), Radio France Internationale and the Voice of America are available via local relays in Bangui.

There were 557,000 internet uses by December 2021, comprising 11% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). Internet access is mainly confined to Bangui.