ABIDJAN, June 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said it fears the "abusive use" of a newly revised law in Niger that bans the dissemination of information that could "disturb public order".

First adopted in 2019, the law also outlaws the digital dissemination of defamatory material and "insults", but since 2022, the offences have only been punishable by fines.

Military regime head General Abdourahamane Tiani, however, ordered earlier this month that prison terms be reinstated for the offences, prompting RSF to voice concern on Wednesday.

In a statement, RSF warned "about the possibility of the abusive use of this legislation to imprison and censor journalists working online", urging the law be scrapped.

The NGO pointed out that under the law, the offence of distributing information likely to disturb public order could be punished even if the information in question is proven to be true.

"A critical journalistic article, however truthful it may be, could therefore constitute an offence under this provision," it added.

Following the recent changes, the penalty for disseminating such information is two to five years in prison.

The offences of spreading defamation or insults carry terms of one to three years.

"These repressive provisions confirm a serious decline in press freedom and illustrate how far the junta is willing to go in exploiting the law to repress the media," the director of RSF's Sub-Saharan Africa desk, Sadibou Marong, was quoted as saying in the statement.

The law has been used to prosecute members of the press before, with Nigerien journalist Samira Sabou charged last year with dissemination of information likely to disturb public order before being released on bail.

RSF said Idrissa Soumana Maiga, director of The Inquirer, the largest private daily newspaper in Niger, had also been detained since late April for "attacking national defence" following the publication of an article on the alleged installation of Russian equipment at official buildings.

Niger placed 80th out 180 countries in RSF's world press freedom rankings this year.