Accra, Ghana – Ghana has recorded 14 arrests linked to false news and offensive speech in less than 16 months, nearly double the number documented during the previous administration’s entire eight-year tenure, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The rise has triggered a sharp debate in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies over whether authorities are simply enforcing long-standing laws in a new digital environment, or edging into a more restrictive proach to public speech.

The controversy carries added political weight because President John Mahama, while in opposition in 2022, warned that using state power to intimidate dissent was a dangerous blueprint for democracy.

Government: enforcement not repression

A senior ruling party official dismissed allegations that the arrests amount to a crackdown.

The opposition intentionally sponsors people to insult the President, he told Al Jazeera. When the law catches up with them, they cry persecution to score che political points.

He pointed to the case of TikToker Prince Ofori, known as Fante Comedy, who was arrested last August over alleged threats to President Mahama.

Days after his arrest, Ofori peared at a political rally alongside opposition figures, a development the official said showed how quickly such cases become politicised.

They paraded him at an opposition rally, he said.

Opposition: a warning sign for democracy

Opposition leaders see something more troubling taking she.

Minority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has been among the most outspoken critics.

The state-sponsored persecution must stop, he told Al Jazeera. Arresting citizens for words that do not constitute genuine threats is not justice. It is intimidation.

He said free speech has limits, but argued that the state is increasingly crossing a line.

Excessive use of state power risks undoing Ghana’s hard-won democratic gains, he said.

Where is the line?

At the centre of the debate are long-standing provisions in Ghana’s Criminal Code and Electronic Communications Act, which authorities say are now being plied to a fast-moving digital landsce.

Government supporters argue the increase in arrests reflects the explosion of anonymous and unregulated online content.

Critics say the problem is not the laws themselves, but how they are being used.

A legal consultant who reviewed recent cases said he counted at least 16 alleged misplications of Section 208 in the past 18 months, compared with roughly a dozen in the previous eight years.

The law has been abused beyond repair, he said. Repeal is the only remedy.

Veteran journalist Ben Ephson said Ghana needs clearer guidance on where free expression ends and harm begins.

The government must properly explain the arrests so people can draw the line between press freedom and responsible journalism, he said.

He added that both journalists and state institutions risk overstepping if the rules remain unclear.

When you compare the freedom of the media and the rights of the individual, we need to be careful that the media, in trying to do their work, don’t trample on people’s rights, he said.

A wider global debate

Others say Ghana’s debate mirrors tensions playing out in other democracies.

Tegha King of the Universal Peace Federation Ghana said concerns about shrinking civic space are not unique to Ghana.

The global civic space must cultivate more free speech, not less, he told Al Jazeera.

He said stronger institutions, not more arrests, are needed to manage the pressures of the digital age.

There must be independent courts, transparent enforcement, media self-regulation and digital literacy, he said.

Civic awareness and external concern

Some analysts point to gs in public understanding of constitutional rights.

There is a lack of constitutional education among many Ghanaians, said David Adofo of the African Chamber of Content Producers. People must know the consequences of their actions before they act, not after.

Concerns are also being voiced outside the country.

We have had many concerns from diasporans about perceived erosion of press and political freedoms, especially news of blogger arrests, said Nana Kofi Opoku-Agyemang of the NuGhana Expat Center. Negative news sells fast. The government must be cautious so it does not project a negative image of Ghana in the diasporan community.

Government stance

Officials insist there is no coordinated effort to silence dissent.

An NDC communicator said the legal framework in question predates the current administration and defended the proach.

Ghana’s laws, Section 208 of the Criminal Code and Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, have been on the books for decades, he said. What has changed is the sheer volume of reckless, anonymous and sometimes dangerous content on social media. There is no systematic crackdown. There is simply enforcement of existing law.

A political irony at the centre of it all

Ghana remains one of West Africa’s more open democracies, with a competitive political system and active media landsce.

But the rise in speech-related arrests has sharpened scrutiny of how far the state can go in policing online expression without undermining the democratic culture that helped define its reputation.

The debate is also politically charged because of Mahama’s own past warnings.

As opposition leader, he described the use of state power against dissent as a dangerous blueprint. Today, critics say his government faces accusations it once condemned.

For Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the moment calls for restraint — and reflection.

We should not continue to say that because it hpened yesterday, it should hpen today and tomorrow. That cycle must end, he said. President Mahama has an opportunity to leave a legacy of tolerance and free speech. I hope he takes it.

The decision was delivered by John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, who found that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a series of unlawful policies affecting plicants from across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Gulf region. The ruling coincided with the US Senate passing legislation tied to Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Those policies imposed a sweeping pause on immigration benefit processing for individuals from 39 countries already under full or partial travel bans, justified by the administration on national security and vetting concerns. The affected plications included asylum requests, work permits, permanent residency (green cards), and citizenship pathways.

USCIS’s hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the hpenstance of their birth, he wrote, as per .

The rule of law has to ply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘done things the right way’, McConnell added.

Indeed, the agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress has charged it with administering, as well as the administrative laws that govern the agency’s actions.

The judge said the government lacked statutory authority for the blanket delays and said that plicants had complied fully with US immigration procedures.

The judgment could influence how strictly US authorities are allowed to delay or pause immigration plications, which may affect processing practices that also impact Indian plicants.

Every person seeking safety, stability, and opportunity deserves a fair chance to have their case heard under the law, Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, told The Guardian.

Today, a federal judge reaffirmed what we already knew: that the Trump administration violated the law, and did so with anti-immigrant malice. By shutting down access to asylum and preventing thousands of immigrants from receiving a decision on their immigration plications solely on the basis of which country they come from, the Trump administration acted against statute and against the rule of law. He added that the policies left families in limbo and undermined the legal immigration system established by Congress.

The plaintiffs, represented by Democracy Forward, also welcomed the ruling, saying it reaffirmed that the federal government cannot deny lawful immigration pathways based on nationality.

The policies were introduced amid a tightening of immigration enforcement following a shooting involving National Guard members in Washington, DC, after which Trump called for expanded migration restrictions and travel bans covering 39 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela and Syria.

He said pubs would see 20% cut in their business rates, “typically worth about £5,000 a year”, and that he would re-energise the social care agenda, by asking Dame Louise Casey – currently carrying out an inquiry – to produce her findings this year, rather than the proposed 2028.

Mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site ahead of next week’s showpiece event for FIFA.

FIFA has cancelled World Cup tickets issued to about 60 fans who mistakenly got them for free because of a website error.

The tickets were allocated at no charge (0 USD) due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process, FIFA said in a statement on Thursday.

FIFA regrets the error and any inconvenience caused, football’s ruling body said. The tickets requested by these fans remain reserved, and the affected fans have been invited to complete payment of the correct amount.

It is the latest glitch in an often controversial World Cup ticketing programme that the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey are investigating for possible violations of consumer protection laws.

The mispriced tickets were sold through the official World Cup site on May 21, FIFA said in an email message to buyers.

That date was more than three months after FIFA president Gianni Infantino said all 104 World Cup games had sold out.

Tickets are still being sold by FIFA for games at the World Cup, which opens next Thursday in Mexico City. It is unclear if seats for games in less demand will drop in price under FIFA’s surge pricing model, which has been controversial for fans.

FIFA is also operating its own resale platform — and taking 15 percent commission from both buyers and sellers — in order to cut out ticket dealers from the market. However, sales platforms such as SeatGeek were offering widespread availability on Friday for many games.

Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are wildly more expensive than any previous edition, which FIFA has justified as helping earn billions of dollars it will give to member federations for developing the game globally.

FIFA took control of pricing and selling tickets as part of bringing World Cup operations in-house. The longtime model at previous editions was working with host nations’ local organising committees.

When the football federations of the United States, Canada and Mexico won hosting rights in 2018, they promised to sell hundreds of thousands of tickets at $21 each for group-stage games. FIFA was selling official front-row tickets for the final for $32,970.