“Silencing Houthi Mouthpieces”: A Yemeni Demand to Washington Following Their Terrorist Designation

4th February 2025

2 minutes read

"Silencing Houthi Mouthpieces": A Yemeni Demand to Washington Following Their Terrorist Designation

The Yemeni government is leading intensive efforts to shut down the media platforms of the Houthi militias due to their use for spreading misinformation.

These moves follow the United States’ designation of the group as a “terrorist organization.” The latest developments include a series of meetings in Washington between Yemen’s Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Moammar Al-Eryani, and Timothy Lenderking, Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, along with Morgan Ortagus, Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, according to Yemen’s official Saba news agency.

During the meeting, the Yemeni minister called for support in his ministry’s efforts to close Houthi-affiliated satellite television offices in Lebanon and Sanaa, block their satellite signals broadcasted via Eutelsat, and halt the frequency bandwidth they use for transmission.

He also urged a ban on TV channels, agencies, and news websites that impersonate government media to prevent them from continuing to spread misinformation and propaganda used by the Houthis to deceive both local and international public opinion.

Al-Eryani emphasized the necessity of banning Houthi-affiliated pages on various social media platforms, including X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

“These platforms have become a key tool for the Houthis to spread extremism and promote their terrorist activities, just as other terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al-Qaeda do,” he stated.

He stressed that allowing the Houthis to continue using these platforms strengthens their ability to disseminate extremist ideologies, recruit fighters, and carry out terrorist operations. He insisted that the international community has a responsibility to counter these media threats and take action to prevent the exploitation of these platforms for terrorism-related purposes.

The minister also stated, “The United States and the international community must hold this terrorist group accountable for its extensive record of crimes and violations, without granting it any political or legal cover that enables it to continue its terrorism against Yemenis and threaten regional and international security and stability.”

Al-Eryani welcomed the new approach of the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump, particularly the decision to reclassify the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. He asserted that this step should be part of a broader strategy that includes imposing strict sanctions and cutting off all financial and logistical support reaching the militias through their regional networks. He also expressed hope that this designation would mark the beginning of the end for the Houthis.

Over the past few days, the Yemeni Minister of Information has held multiple meetings with U.S. officials to intensify efforts to clamp down on Houthi media outlets and shut down the accounts of the group’s leaders involved in spreading hate speech and incitement against the Yemeni people and regional populations.

Last year, the Yemeni government formally reached out to social media platforms, requesting a ban on Houthi militia content, citing the previous U.S. administration’s decision to classify the group as a global terrorist organization.