Mauritanian authorities have arrested six people in connection with a blackmail and disinformation case involving money transfers sent to bloggers based abroad, government spokesperson and Culture Minister El-Houssein Ould Medou said at a press conference reported by Saharamedias and other outlets on 1 October 2026. He said the number of people arrested could rise in the coming days as the investigation progresses.
Ould Medou said the network authorities say they have dismantled was active in producing, publishing and distributing false information, alongside what he described as abuses targeting other individuals. He added that the probe also covers financed operations involving threats, blackmail and the purchase of silence, and that security operations are continuing. He said authorities "will not tolerate any violation of people's rights and dignity," and called for responsible use of digital space.
The arrests follow a separate wave of detentions reported on 28 September, when relatives of Mauritanian bloggers based abroad were taken into custody. According to Saharamedias, blogger Sidi Kmach (also spelled Akmash) said his brother Abderrahmane Kmach was detained at his shop in a Nouakchott market, while his sister, identified by other outlets as Oumtbabeeb Kmache, was arrested in the town of M'Bout before being transferred to the capital. RFI separately reported the same detentions, citing the Mauritanian newspaper Al-Akhbar for the brother's arrest and noting that no official reason had been given at the time. A government source told Saharamedias that investigators were tracing financial flows to bloggers based in Europe and the United States but that it remained too early to identify suspects or who was funding the transfers.
According to RFI, the newspaper Essahra said it had obtained data from Mauritania's General Directorate of National Security detailing transfers and thousands of transactions to bloggers living abroad. The targeted bloggers reject the blackmail and extortion accusations and describe themselves as whistleblowers; one told RFI he believed the campaign was intended to silence critics of the government and said he did not know where his detained relatives were being held.
Authorities have not publicly named those arrested in the six-person case or detailed specific charges, and the scope of the financial network—including whether foreign state or political-actor involvement is suspected—remains under investigation.