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Before the pandemic spread, a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa had been experiencing a wave of public protests for more democratic and accountable rule akin to the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. "The crackdown started several months before the pandemic, but has been exacerbated by the emergency laws and extrajudicial tools regimes are employing under the guise of the pandemic," Sarah Yerkes, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace Middle East Program. 

"Regimes across North Africa are exploiting the pandemic to crackdown on activists, journalists, and anyone critical of the regime, particularly those using social media."

In Algeria, with the popular anti-government protest movement known as the Hirak put on hold for safety reasons since March, the repressive climate, arguably the worst in North Africa, has worsened with the continued arrests of journalists and activists, which has been a maintained pattern since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took office in December.

On July 25, 2021, Tunisia’s current president, Kais Saied, suspended parliament, dismissed the prime minister, and seized extraordinary powers. The next day, security forces evicted Al Jazeera’s staff from their Tunis bureau and confiscated their equipment.

Al  Jazeera set up a makeshift studio in the front yard of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists. Denied authorization to go out and film, the station has been airing borrowed footage alongside Hajji doing a stand-up each day in that yard

“No one in authority has given us any justification for closing our office,” Hajji told me. “There is no court decision. No official will tell us what we have done wrong, how long it will last, or to whom we can appeal.”