Sudan on Tuesday suspended three Arab satellite channels, citing expired licenses and what the government views as unprofessional reporting

The Ministry of Culture and Information suspended two Saudi state-owned broadcasters -- Al Arabiya and Al Hadath -- and the Sky News Arabia channel owned by the United Arab Emirates.

The decision was made over a "lack of commitment to the required professionalism and transparency and failure to renew its licenses," said SUNA, the Sudanese state news agency.

The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate criticized the move by the information ministry, calling it a press freedom violation.

"Closing satellite channels and restricting those working in the profession would silence the voice of the professional media, and would also open the door to the spread of rumors and hate speech," the group said Tuesday in a statement.

Sudan is already a challenging environment for journalists. In 2023, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders ranked it 148 out of 180 countries in terms of media freedom.

Civil war between two military factions in Sudan has contributed to the difficulties facing journalists, according to reports from media and press freedom groups.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.