Sylvanie Kiaku, the editor of the Congolese weekly newspaper La Percée, was arrested on October 10, 2018, in Kinshasa, DRC, and charged with criminal defamation. The arrest followed the publication of articles about unpaid salaries at a major bank. Kiaku was unable to pay the set bail of US$1,000 and was transferred to Kinshasa’s Central Prison. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for her immediate release and the abolition of criminal defamation laws in the DRC, emphasizing the need for journalists to work without fear of reprisal. This is not Kiaku's first encounter with the law; she was previously detained in 2011 on similar charges, which were later dropped.

Tharcisse Zongia, the editor-in-chief of the satirical weekly Grognon, was arrested on September 6, 2018, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, for criminal defamation. He was convicted in absentia in November 2016 for an article accusing Barthelemy Okito, secretary general of the sports ministry, of embezzlement. Despite an appeal filed in January 2017, Zongia was detained before the appeal could be heard. The Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom organizations have called for his immediate release and the abolition of criminal defamation laws in the DRC. Zongia's health is a concern as he was hospitalized while under police guard. No date has been set for his appeal or a hearing challenging the legality of his detention.

On May 23, the media regulator in Benin, the High Authority for Communication and Audiovisual, ordered an indefinite suspension of the privately owned daily, La Nouvelle Tribune, for publishing articles deemed offensive to the president. The paper's chief editor, Vincent Foly, informed CPJ that the suspension was enacted without prior warning and that the newspaper could have been subject to legal action for defamation instead of a suspension. The Committee to Protect Journalists, through its Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal, condemned the suspension as a serious threat to press freedom and called for the decision to be reversed. Despite the suspension, La Nouvelle Tribune's website remains accessible in Benin.

On July 25, Congolese police raided Kin Lartus, a television production studio in Kinshasa, detaining 10 journalists and confiscating equipment. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the return of the materials and an end to intimidation of the press. The raid involved plainclothes and uniformed officers, and while six journalists were released the same day, four were detained for two days and had to pay to secure their release. No charges were filed, but the police kept some of the seized items. The raid occurred after a civil lawsuit was filed against Kin Lartus by Petito Kilala, who alleged that the studio used his program's logo and name without permission. The CPJ and local press freedom group Journalistes en Danger have criticized the police's actions, and the legality of the raid is questioned under the Congolese military penal code.