This study examines the features and characteristics of the media system that developed in Morocco between 2011 and 2023. It analyzes the model of the relationship between this system and the political regime. The study hypothesizes that the transformations that have occurred since the adoption of a new constitution in 2011, which elevates the importance of press freedom, and the subsequent legislative momentum in the field of media, have not brought about a fundamental change in the media system, especially in terms of the influence of the political regime. The relationship between the two fields continues to be governed by the political context and the struggle for roles between them.
Introduction
The year 2011 marked a turning point in the history of the Moroccan press, during which time Morocco adopted a new constitution that considered “freedom of the press guaranteed and cannot be restricted by any form of prior censorship”.[1] He launched a dynamic to create a new legislative and regulatory environment for journalistic practice, which ended with the adoption of a press and publishing code in 2016, which constituted the most important legal development in the Moroccan media field, and differed from previous legal texts, as it came in three laws aimed at strengthening guarantees of press freedom and developing the environment for practice and self-regulation of the press.
Legislation for the press remains one of the entrances to influence in the Moroccan media field, as tracking the process of amending the press law since independence until today confirms that there is a difference in dealing with the media according to the contexts and circumstances of each stage. This requires studying the state of the media system in Morocco between 2011 and 2023, which witnessed profound transformations in the political scene, starting with the February 20, 2011 movement, which exploited the revolutionary situation in Arab countries, and raised demands mainly related to political reform, to which the authority responded in less than a month, after King Mohammed VI presented constitutional and legislative reforms in his March 9 speech, starting with the dissolution of the government and parliament, the formation of a constituent committee to draft the new constitution, and then The end ended with early elections, which for the first time in Moroccan political history produced a government led by an Islamist party represented by the Justice and Development Party.
Transformations in the Moroccan media landscape have always been accompanied by social and political transformations, and one indication of this is the high pace of amending the press law, as Morocco has approved nine copies from 1958 – the date of the adoption of the first press law – until 2023, at a rate of one copy every seven years. The sixties and seventies of the last century were characterized by the adoption of the largest number of amendments that carved the trend of tightening in light of the political conditions experienced by the country in that period and associated with the state of exception (2), and the failure of two coup attempts against the rule of the late King, Hassan II, while the climate of openness that the rule of King Mohammed VI at its beginning imposed the adoption of the amendment to the Press Law in 2002, towards reducing the penalties depriving freedom, which were mentioned in 23 sites instead of 33 in the original law.
It has become common for the legislative structure of the press field to be seen as an entry point to study the model of the relationship between the media system and the prevailing political system, which applies to the Moroccan case, which in recent years has witnessed a media movement no less important than the political movement. This is in the context of continuous efforts to ensure freedom of the press and to avoid building a “glass ceiling”(3) in which the journalist’s thoughts and actions are monitored at every moment, and to get out of the cloak of censorship, which throughout history has constituted a powerful political tool that has enabled the obliteration of the peaceful development of public opinion (4).
However, determining the nature of the media system that was formed in Morocco between 2011 and 2023 goes beyond studying the legal and organizational structure to examining the characteristics of the economic model of press establishments, the established traditions in professional practice, and the interactions of professional journalists with the practice environment, because the adoption of new legislation and laws in the press does not necessarily mean the removal of all restrictions imposed on free journalistic practice.
1. Methodological considerations
The problem of the study
The study approaches the Moroccan media environment and its various components in an attempt to determine the pattern of the media system that was formed during the period between 2011 and 2023, based on this complex problematic question: What are the characteristics and characteristics of the Moroccan media system between 2011 and 2023? What is the nature of the relationship between the media system and the political system?
Related to the problematic question are a set of issues that can be identified in this interrogative field:
What are the characteristics of the media system in Morocco after the 2011 constitution?
What is the model of the relationship between the Moroccan media system and the political system?
Does the new legislation guarantee freedom of the press?
– How does the legal and institutional environment affect journalistic practice?
– How does the economic model of press establishments affect the reality of the media system?
– Where is the path of self-regulation of journalism as a new tradition in professional practice?
– What are the challenges that hinder the journalist from carrying out his functions and roles?
Objectives of the study
There are several objectives that highlight the usefulness of researching the specificity of the media system in Morocco and its transformations between 2011 and 2023, which we monitor in:
– Diagnosing the current situation of the Moroccan media and the reality of journalistic practice, by monitoring the challenges and obstacles that limit press freedom 12 years after the adoption of a new constitution and seven years after the adoption of the Press and Publication Code.
– Monitoring the entrances to influence in the Moroccan press in light of legislative development, the challenges of the work environment and the role of the political factor in this.
– Studying the transformations of the media system and their repercussions on professional practice, and critically absorbing them in the horizon of developing journalistic practice in Morocco.
Methodological Strategy
The study adopts a complex methodological strategy that combines multiple approaches required by the dimensions of the research problem, including the descriptive approach that helps the researcher to collect accurate information about the studied phenomenon as it exists in reality, by diagnosing the current Moroccan media and the reality of professional practice. This approach also helps to model the relationship between the media system and the political system, and to highlight the characteristics of the media system that was formed in Morocco between 2011 and 2023.
The researcher also uses the analytical method in studying and analyzing statistical data, interpreting and discussing them and drawing conclusions to determine the level of impact of political, legislative/legal and economic variables in the media system. The researcher also adopts the historical approach to read the historical contexts of the legislation regulating the Moroccan media field and the process of its development between 2011 and 2023.
2. Map of the Moroccan media system and its process
2.1. Paper Media
According to official data for 2021, the number of paper newspaper titles appropriate to the requirements of the Press and Publications Law and published regularly, according to official data for 2021, is 105 paper newspapers(5), distributed between 43 monthly issues, 29 weekly issues, 20 daily issues and 13 bi-monthly issues. The comparison with previous years reveals a decline in the number of paper newspaper headlines(6) by 58% from 2018, and 78% from 2016, which means that 383 newspapers left the media scene, and stopped publishing within four years, which reflects the worsening of the paper media crisis in Morocco from year to year(7).
This decline in the number of headlines is paralleled by a sharp decline in sales, as the total daily sales of newspapers combined did not exceed the ceiling of 38.5 thousand copies at the end of 2020(8), the last official count. Although these numbers do not necessarily reflect the number of newspaper readers in Morocco, which is likely to be higher – given the widespread culture of reading newspapers in cafes, which account for about 85% of Moroccan newspaper sales(9) – sales figures remain weak compared to Morocco’s population of 33.8 million(10) on the one hand, and the literate rate of 68% of the total population(11) on the other.
While most print media are published by private individuals and political parties, the state has a presence in this field, through the Groupe Maroc Soir, which publishes the Arabic-language newspapers “Moroccan Sahara” and “Le Matin” in French, in addition to three headlines published by the official news agency in the last five years.
Figure 1: Decline in the number of paper newspaper headlines in Morocco (2016-2020)
2.2. Electronic Media
The spread of electronic media in Morocco at the numerical level, is evidenced by the fact that the number of electronic newspapers appropriate to their situation with the requirements of the Press and Publication Law exceeded 546 news websites(12), including national, regional and local, in addition to sites that represent copies of some paper newspapers, while the total number of permits to issue electronic newspapers received by the courts of first instance in the Kingdom until September 2020 reached 1016 permits.
The number of websites is currently the largest since the entry into force of the Press and Publications Code in 2016, which has legalized it by setting controls and procedures for its establishment, organizing its workflow, and subjecting it to the same procedure for creating printed periodicals. In December 2017, there were only 121 such sites. The same applies to the number of permits, which did not exceed 656 permits in the same period, which is a positive shift13 in the number of electronic newspapers that submitted permits to establish them with the Public Prosecution in the Kingdom.
The appropriate electronic newspapers are distributed among 295 newspapers published in Arabic (54% of the total newspapers), 132 newspapers published in Arabic and French, or 24%, 36 newspapers published in French, representing 6%, 10 newspapers published in Arabic, French and Amazigh, representing 2%, and the rest of the newspapers are multilingual.
The spread of websites in Morocco is due to free access to the Internet(14), as the number of Internet users in Morocco is estimated at 35.6 million subscribers at the end of 2022(15), in addition to enabling them to obtain photography licenses(16), and integrating them into the public support system for newspapers since 2016(17) for those who have obtained the number of the Bilateral Commission for the Written Press(18).
In sum, two types of news websites can be distinguished in Morocco: websites published in parallel with print newspapers and by the same publisher, and pure websites.19 While some websites were established independently at the beginning of the new millennium as a new form of journalism, most paper newspapers resorted through stages to establishing websites in parallel, while it was not proven, until September 2023, that paper newspapers chose to switch to electronic newspapers, as happened in many international experiences.
Table 1: Increase in the number of permits and electronic newspapers in Morocco (2017-2020)
| Date | Responsive electronic newspapersThe requirements of the Press and Publications Law | Permits to issue electronic newspapers received by the courts of first instance |
| December 2017 | 121 | 656 |
| July 2018 | 200 | 700 |
| September 2019 | 406 | 911 |
| December 2019 | 428 | 929 |
| September 2020 | 546 | 1016 |
2.3. Audiovisual media
Unlike the print media, which has known a margin of freedom since the mid-nineties of the last century, the state’s guardianship over audiovisual media has remained in place since the country’s independence.[20] It was only in 2002 with the promulgation of the law on the establishment of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication,22 as well as the decree-law ending the State monopoly in the field of radio and television broadcasting,23 which opened the way for the free initiative for audiovisual communication,21 and later in 2005 with the promulgation of the law on audiovisual communication,24 which defined the general rules and basic controls aimed at structuring and codifying The audiovisual communication sector, taking advantage of the factors of political détente in the context of what was known as the “New Testament”.25
In practice, however, the editorial was only translated by May 2006, when the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication granted ten licenses to the first generation of private radio stations, an exceptional license to one television channel(26) (Medi 1 Sat),27 and then in February 2009 with the issuance of a new batch of radio and television licenses, by granting licenses to four thematic radio stations,28 and later, three television licenses were granted in two phases. As of December 2022, only four television licenses had been granted, three of them to provide a television service centered on entertainment and art, and this extreme caution in granting licenses applies to radio services as well, as most of the licensed radio stations are mainly entertainment.
Currently, Morocco has 14 private radio stations and four (only) private channels, although the end of the state monopoly on radio and television broadcasting was announced in September 2002. On the other hand, the public media dominates the media landscape through two companies:
– The National Radio and Television Company29 has nine television channels (three public,30 five thematic,31 regional,32 and 15 radios; 3,33 thematic,34 and 11 regional,35 and its management is supervised by a trusteeship authority represented by the Ministry of Communication, and its general directors are appointed by Royal Dahir.
– The Company for Audiovisual Studies and Achievements (36) (SORIAD – Channel Two) with a channel and radio.
The table below (No. 2), 18 years after the end of the State monopoly in the field of radio and television broadcasting, shows the reality of public and private radio and channels.
Table (2): Distribution of the number of public and private radio stations and channels
| Audiovisual landscape | Number of radio stations | Number of Channels | ||
| Number | Percentage (%) | Number | Percentage (%) | |
| Public audiovisual sector | 16 | 53.33 | 10 | 71.42 |
| Special audiovisual sector | 14 | 46.66 | 4* | 28.57 |
| Total | 30 | 100 | 14 | 100 |
2.4. News agencies
Morocco has an official news agency, the Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP), inaugurated on November 18, 1958, with national and international representation, partnering with 70 international agencies, and using five languages. The agency publishes more than 197,000 clippings per year,37 according to official data, an average of 665 units per day, and one million and 87,000 clippings to partner agencies.
Since July 2018, the agency has been publishing a monthly magazine called BAB Magazine. On June 15, 2020, it began publishing two daily newspapers: the Arabic-language Youm Maghribi and the French-language Maroc le jour. Starting in 2020, it launched a news television channel called “M24” without obtaining a license from the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA), and continues to broadcast to this day despite its legal dilemma(38), and also established Reem Radio News, which broadcasts its programs online throughout the day.
2.5. The state of the Moroccan media ecosystem
Based on the above indicators, the following conclusions can be addressed:
– The liberalization of the audiovisual sector is still modest in light of the state’s inability to remove its hand from this sector in whole or in part.
– A sharp collapse in the number of paper titles confirms the depth of the paper media crisis in favor of electronic media, which achieves a qualitative leap year after year.
– The State’s continued presence in the Moroccan media has two faces: the dominant face in the audiovisual field and the light face of the present in the print press, while the Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP) remains the most expressive of the existence of an official press.
Table 3: Distribution of Moroccan Media Map
| M | Media Outlet | Number | Percentage (%) | Evaluation |
| 1 | Paper newspapers | 105 | 15.10 | Severe collapse/light presence of the state |
| 2 | TV Channels | 14 | 2.01 | State stability/domination |
| 3 | Radio stations | 30 | 4.31 | State stability/domination |
| 4 | Websites | 546 | 78.56 | Qualitative leap/indirect presence |
| Total | 695 | 100 | – | |
3. The legislative structure of the media system
3.1. Legal development and institutional establishment
The 2016 Press and Publications Code is considered the most important legislative development in the field of Moroccan media, as it differs from previous legal texts, and came within the framework of three laws: the first: the law on the press and publications(39), the second: the law on the statute of professional journalists(40), and the third: the law establishing the National Press Council(41).
While the laws on the statute of professional journalists and the creation of the National Press Council have the task of regulating the practice of information, the law on the press and publication sets out the rules relating to the exercise of freedom of the press, publication and printing, and sets out the conditions for the exercise of the press, the rights of journalists, journalists and press institutions and guarantees for the exercise of the press, in particular the principles of freedom and pluralism, the obligations to be observed by them, and the rules governing printing, distribution and advertising activities related to the press and publishing, as well as those relating to the special protection of certain rights, the jurisdiction of the courts and the procedures followed before them, and the rules relating to professional ethics.42
The first signs of the birth of the Press and Publications Code date back to 2002, following the revision of the Press Law, which changed its name to become the “Press and Publications Law” No. (77.00), as the voices demanding its amendment quickly rose, which the Ministry of Communication responded to by opening a dialogue with professionals in 2003, and continued until 2007, and one of the results of which was the submission of a new draft law on the press and publication to the General Secretariat of the Government, without activating the ratification procedure. The political scene in that period, as the “democratic methodology” in appointing the prime minister from the parties leading the elections was abandoned.
However, the adoption of the 2011 constitution in the wake of the February 20 movement contributed to the resumption of debate on the 2007 draft, after the Ministry of Communication opened a new dialogue with professionals in January 2012 to update the press and publications law. In October 2012, it appointed a scientific committee for dialogue and consultation on the draft, chaired by Mohamed Larbi Al-Masari,43 whose work after thirteen plenary meetings in addition to a large number of subcommittee meetings resulted in the submission of amendment proposals covering 110 articles.44 The draft press and publication law accounted for the largest number of amendments after sixty out of ninety articles were observed and amended, followed by the draft law on the professional journalist with twenty-three out of twenty-nine articles, while observations were recorded that concerned fifteen out of sixty-one articles in the draft law establishing the National Press Council.
The new constitution also contributed to amending the legal arsenal regulating the audiovisual sector, by making the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication a constitutional institution that falls within the independent bodies of good governance, regulation and regulation. It is the constitutional status that gives this body a clear power and influence in its relationship with state institutions and structures,45 as a new law on its reorganization(46) was issued in 2016. In addition, the Government approved the Right to Information Law,47 guaranteed by Chapter XXVII of the Constitution, after its ratification process had been completed for a full eight years. The first phase was on August 1, 2013, and was approved by the Government Council on July 31, 2014, and on July 20, 2016, it was approved by the House of Representatives. It was only ratified by the House of Councillors on 9 January 2018, then ratified by the Chamber of Deputies in the second reading, on 6 February 2018, before being published in the Official Gazette on 12 March 2018.
In the midst of analyzing these new legislations, four developments can be identified related to strengthening guarantees of press freedoms, controlling the conditions of access to the profession, expanding and strengthening the competences of the judiciary in press and publishing cases, and institutional establishment.
First: Strengthening the guarantees of press freedoms: This has been done through:
– Abolition of custodial penalties and compensation for them with civil compensation and appropriate fines: While the terms “imprisonment” and “imprisonment” were mentioned in the previous Press and Publications Law in 23 chapters, prison sentences were abolished in the new law and fines were limited to 19 articles. It should be noted that two articles expressly stipulate that the penalty of physical coercion shall not be applied, namely article 92, which states: “Physical coercion shall not be applied in cases of press and publication in cases of inability to perform by legally prescribed means”, and article 98, which states: “Under this law, a suspect may not be arrested or held in pretrial detention”.
However, despite this progress, which enshrines Morocco’s commitment to abolish custodial penalties in the press law during the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2012, some prison sentences remained in another form, after they were transferred to the Criminal Code,49 which are related to insulting the Kingdom’s symbols and inciting to commit felonies and misdemeanors.
– Guarantees of the right to information: With the exception of confidential information under article 27 of the Constitution relating to national defense, protection of internal and external state security and the private life of individuals, the new law guarantees access to information.
Second: Controlling the conditions of access to the profession: through:
– New rules and conditions that must be met in order to grant a professional press card: the most important of which remains proof that the applicant has not been sentenced to res judicata for a felony or misdemeanour in specific cases, and that he submits a commitment to respect the obligations contained in the legislative and regulatory texts and the Code of Professional Ethics50 of the National Press Council.
– Granting the National Press Council the exclusive right instead of the government to issue the professional card and the possibility of rejecting it or renewing it annually.
Third: Expanding the jurisdiction of the judiciary in press and publishing cases, which is reflected in:
– Make the judiciary the sole and exclusive body competent to receive permits to issue newspapers.
– Making confiscation, seizure and detention exclusively in the hands of the judiciary: the suspension of a periodic publication or the blocking of the website of an electronic newspaper will only be by judicial decision. The seizure of a periodic publication is issued by an urgent judicial decision, and the exception remains for foreign newspapers only, in which the administration still intervenes.
– Respect for the presumption of innocence: Affirmation of the principle of presumption of innocence in journalists’ work on cases before the courts, the right to judicial information and the right to publish judicial rulings.
Fourth: Institutional Establishment: through:
– The creation of the National Press Council as an independent professional body with legal personality and financial independence.51 It mainly aims at self-regulation of the press and publishing sector, the establishment of the necessary regulations that ensure the practice of the profession in respect of its rules and ethics, and the granting of a professional press card instead of the government. The Council mediates disputes between professionals or between professionals and third parties, monitors respect for freedom of the press, and hears disciplinary cases involving press institutions and professional journalists who have violated their professional duties and the Code of Ethics.52
– Constitutionalization of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA)53 has been an independent constitutional institution for the regulation of audiovisual communication since its establishment in August 2002, having been competent to express opinions on any issue related to the audiovisual communication sector. The Commission is responsible for ensuring the free exercise of audiovisual communication as a fundamental principle, respect for the linguistic, cultural and political pluralism of Moroccan society, the pluralistic expression of currents of opinion and thought, and the right to information in the audiovisual field.
Despite legislative development and institutional establishment, there are a number of challenges to the above-mentioned legislation, which call into question its ability to ensure a free, independent, professional and ethically committed press that amounts to a fourth authority.54 Here, the Press and Publications Code can be limited to the laws that regulate journalistic practice, as a number of shortcomings appear that can be summarized in four, namely:
First: Failure to scrutinize exceptional cases to declassify sources, which opens the way for expanding their scope.
Second: The requirement of exaggerated seniority to run for membership of the National Press Council represented in 15 years, while 56.3% of the total journalists holding a professional press card in 2020 have seniority of less than 10 years (55).
Third: The continued subordination of the press to the executive authority through the public support mechanism, in the absence of an organized law, which raises fears of working with the logic of loyalty and control, regardless of the stipulation of Article VII of the Press and Publications Law that “benefiting from public support will be based on the principles of transparency, equal opportunities and impartiality”(56).
Fourth: Not explicitly stipulating that the Press and Publications Law alone represents the reference in press and publication crimes, while experience seven years after its activation has proven the application of the Criminal Code in publishing cases, which includes penalties depriving freedom.
Table 4: Advantages of the Press and Publication Code and Drawbacks of their Philosophy
| M | Advantages of the law | Sockets |
| 1 | Defining the rights and freedoms of the professional journalist | Failure to scrutinize exceptional cases to declassify sources |
| 2 | Setting the conditions for access to the profession | Requirement of exaggerated seniority to run for membership of the National Press Council |
| 3 | Expanding and strengthening the jurisdiction of the judiciary in press and publishing cases | Continued subordination of the press to executive power through the public support mechanism |
| 4 | Institutional Anchoring | Failure to explicitly stipulate that the new law alone represents the reference in press and publication crimes |
3.2. Attempts at legislative control
The doses of democratic breath that Morocco experienced after 2011, and the legal measures witnessed by the media field over the past ten years, did not prevent the emergence of regressions that amounted to the experience of amending some laws in the direction of regression, which was manifested as:
The government passed a law to establish a temporary committee to manage the press and publishing sector,57 in August 2023, replacing the National Press Council, which took the self-regulation of the press a step back, regardless of the government’s justification for its move by seeking to overcome the complex regulatory status of the council, which failed to hold elections to renew it. – Before that, the attempt to pass a new law amending the National Press Council(58), submitted by various parliamentary groups(59) in early 2023. The law included new regressive proposals,60 including the principle of mandate by the two most representative bodies61 instead of election, the appointment of the president by the king,62 the elevation of the council’s mandate to five years from four,63 and the increase in the number of its members from 21 to 23.64 but parliamentary groups quickly announced the withdrawal of the proposed law before referring it to the committee after considerable criticism.
– Attempting to pass a law (65) in 2020 to regulate social networks that includes restrictions to “muzzle” social networking sites. It included 25 controversial articles, including article 6, which required the creation of social networks to obtain a license issued by the administration or authority, without specifying how it was exercised and who is responsible, while 13 articles (more than half of the articles) included penalties that combine being depriving of liberty with fines, including punishing advocates of boycotting certain products, goods or services or publicly inciting to do so with a penalty ranging from 6 months to 3 years.66 It was a sign of rapid reaction by the government to counter the success of the 2018 consumer boycott campaign. The government had approved the draft law on March 19, 2020, before announced, on May 3 of the same year, the postponement of its consideration until its final wording meets constitutional principles and enhances human rights gains in the country, which hindered the completion of the ratification procedure.
– In 2018, the government sought to submit a draft law (67) amending and supplementing the law on the press and publications. It included amendments intended to copy articles of the Press and Publications Code and leave their regulation to the Criminal Code, such as crimes of incitement to hatred or discrimination and insulting women and magistrates, public officials, and heads and men of the public force. Although the draft law has not completed the process of ratification, as it is still awaiting discussion and approval at the level of the Education, Culture and Communication Committee of the House of Representatives, its introduction by the government strengthens its tendency to pursue journalists under the Criminal Code in cases of publishing charges, which is a significant regression.
Table (5): Evolution of the Media Legislative System (2011-2023)
| Legislation passed | |||
| Law | Government Ratification Date | The date of its publication in the Official Gazette after completing the ratification procedure | Attribute |
| Press and Publications Law | December 23, 2015 | August 15, 2016 | advanced |
| Law on the Statute of Professional Journalists | October 12, 2015 | 19 May 2016 | advanced |
| National Press Council Act | July 29, 2015 | April 7, 2016 | advanced |
| Law on the Reorganization of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication | August 25, 2016 | September 22, 2016 | advanced |
| Right to Information Law | July 31, 2014 | March 12, 2018 | Partially Advanced |
| Law on the Establishment of a Temporary Committee to Manage the Affairs of the Press and Publishing Sector | 13 April 2023 | September 7, 2023 | you revise |
| Legislation whose ratification procedure has not been completed due to resistance | |||
| Proposal/Bill | Government Ratification Dateor register it in Parliament | Fate | Attribute |
| Proposed Law to Amend and Supplement Law No. (90.13) Establishing the National Press Council | Date of registration in Parliament:16 January 2023 | Announced its withdrawal inFebruary 3, 2023 | you revise |
| Draft law on the use of social networks, open broadcasting networks and similar networks | 19 March 2020 | It was not referred to Parliament after the government announced the postponement of its consideration | you revise |
| Draft Law amending and supplementing Law No. (88.13) on the Press and Publishing | Referred by the government to the Office of the House of Representatives on March 20, 2018 | pretty | you revise |
4. The relationship between the media system and the political system
The relationship between the media system and the political system is one of the most complex issues in the field of media research, given its direct impact on both media and political action and the tensions it creates between actors in both fields. In principle, the relationship between the press and politics seems far from any competition, because both are committed to society in the duty of public service and their independence in a special role aimed at achieving development and democracy, but practice shows a tendency for political orientations to dominate the media, whether directly or indirectly, which makes the media deviate from its role of supporting the principles of freedom and equality and securing the interests of citizens.
From this standpoint, the relationship between the media and political spheres is more intertwined and intertwined and based on constant conflict(68) although both affect and are influenced by the other, so that the American sociologist, Harold Lasswell (1902-1978), who studied the relationship of the media to the leadership of public opinion, concluded: “The means of communication have turned into necessary tools in the management of public opinion by governments” (69). The French sociologist Judith Lazar, in her book: “The Sociology of Mass Communication”, considered that “the means of communication in the eyes of politicians represent excellent methods of persuading the masses, as the best tool to convey their political messages. Therefore, they are looking for the best relations with journalists, which creates some kind of coexistence”(70), but the French journalist, Serge Halimi, author of the book “The New Guard Dogs”, who spent three decades on the editorial board of Le Monde diplomatique and ended his career as its director, considers “these bonds that bind journalists to politicians quickly spoil the nobility and values of the profession”(71).
In the Moroccan case, we find that the development of the press has historically been associated with the political context, as the amendments to the press law, from the first law in 1958 (72) after independence until the end of it in 2016, were linked to specific contexts related to the level of conflict between the authority and political parties. The 1958 Press Code was amended the following year after the late King Hassan II came to power in March 1961.73 The amendment of 10 April 1973,74 which included the laws of public liberties(75) came together after two failed coup attempts in 1971 and 1972. The most important amendment to the law took place in 2002(76) as part of political reforms[77] after King Mohammed VI came to power in 1999, and resulted in a decrease in prison sentences from 33 in the original law of 1958 to 23 in the aforementioned law, before the press and publications law of 2016 came in the context of political détente after the February 20 movement and the adoption of a new constitution in 2011.
In light of the existing equation in Morocco between the press and the authority, which was often full of contradiction, disharmony, inhibition, resistance and war(78), the media system after Morocco gained its independence did not depart from the official newspapers affiliated with the state, and the partisan newspapers affiliated with political parties, with a few exceptions for newspapers that are not affiliated with each of them, which did not last long due to the domination of the sword of the authorities’ censorship (79). Founded in 1965, The Week is the exception to private newspapers that managed to survive today, even after the death of its founder, Mustafa Alaoui, on December 28, 2019, and changed its title every time it was banned.
Although the prominent feature of the first vanguards of private newspapers is that they do not survive for a long time, the Moroccan media field has known since the beginning of the nineties of the last century the rise of this type of newspaper, in light of a noticeable decline in the partisan press, which represented the diverse points of view(80) of various political parties, especially after a number of previously leftist opposition parties joined the government, which left a vacuum in their press.
It should be noted that the term “private newspapers” refers to addresses that are not affiliated with the State and political parties, regardless of whether they belong to economic, financial or social circles or stakeholders. Thus, in the early nineties, a new generation of private press headlines was launched,81 which served as an additional function as guards or protectors monitoring the activities of the political and judicial authorities, and succeeded in giving a voice to those who do not have a voice,82 including L’Economiste,83 founded in 1998, Maroc-Hebdo International(84) in 1991, and La Vie Éco.[85] A prestigious newspaper created in 1957 by a French company before being sold to a Moroccan holding group in 1997. These three French-language newspapers constituted the first test attempts at political and economic investigative journalism.86
However, the paradigm shift in the private press took place with the establishment of the French-language weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire,87 in November 1997, at the dawn of consensual rotation at the end of the reign of the late King Hassan II, along with an Arabic-language weekly, the newspaper,88 established in 1998, which later ceased publication.
The private press gained greater momentum, with the establishment of four titles that continue to be published today, the first: the weekly “Al-Ayyam”(89), which was established in 2001 after the departure of the editorial team of the weekly newspaper “Al-Sahifa”, and maintained the bold editorial line(90) similar to that of the “newspaper”, and the second: the magazine “Telquel”(91), French-language in 2001, which was known for its critical line of political power, and its treatment of the taboos of Moroccan society(92), and the third: “Moroccan events”(93), which was founded in 1998 to be a platform for reformist voices within the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), which was not satisfied with the orientations of the party’s official newspaper(94), before it knew shifts in its editorial line, especially after the change of owners, in 2015, and the fourth: “Sabah”(95), which was founded in 2000 and began its journalistic work without adhering to the official editorial line(96) before this subsided with time.
The first decade after the two thousand AD witnessed new Arabic-speaking headlines, characterized by professional performance and independence from political parties, including “Al-Masaa”(97), which was launched in 2007, “Akhbar Al-Youm”(98), which was founded in 2009 and ceased publication in March 2021, and “Al-Akhbar”(99), which was established in 2012. The private press gained more momentum in 2011, with the establishment of a number of websites that continue to be published today, including Hespress, Al-Youm 24, Al-Youm 24, Al-Amaq Al-Maghribi and others.
While the private press has found a place in the map of Moroccan print and electronic media in the past three decades, especially with the continued domination of the state over the audiovisual sector, tracing the formation and manner in which this type of journalism deals with issues of public interest highlights two fundamental observations that need reflection:
First, the emergence of businessmen known for their loyalty to the authority and party leaders who run newspapers and news websites. The media arena, although pluralistic, is characterized by a small group that owns and influences the media, which confirms that pluralism is only a formality.
Second, most of the supporters of the press in Morocco are linked to the economic and political sector, and public or semi-public institutions are the largest financiers. This reflects the state’s presence in the advertising market in two ways: the regulator’s face of the sector, and the face of the investor, with the fears that commercial advertising will turn into a “disguised bribe”(100) for loyalists, and a tool of punishment for violators, to become a pattern of censorship and extortion(101).
Based on the above, it can be said that within the private press in Morocco, there is a “loyal press”, which is one of the main models formulated by the researcher, William Rugh, in his classification of Arab media(102), as this type of journalism becomes a strong promoter of state policies without being classified as an official media.
Table 6: Characteristics of the Media System in Morocco (2011-2023)
| M | Media System | Attribute | Items |
| 1 | Press Form | Pluralistic | Diversity in the quality of newspapers: official, partisan, private, loyal |
| 2 | Media discourse | diverse | Diversity of editorial policy and media treatment |
| 3 | Democratization of the media | Partial | The sector needs to remove the state’s hand from the media and liberalize the audiovisual sector |
| 4 | Determining the Entity of Loyalties | Staggered | Influential entities investing in the media |
5. The economic model of media organizations
The economic model of media organizations varies according to their quality, as print and electronic media rely on three main resources: sales, advertising, and public support. While sales experienced a major collapse reflected in the decline in direct or online subscriptions, which provided 27% of sales, by 65%, the network of cafes, which owned about 20% of newspapers by 57%, and points of sale, which accounted for 53% of newspaper popularity, by 48% until October 2020.103 Advertising revenues and public support remain the main suppliers of press establishments.
The advertising market is a stand-alone economic sector,104 with about 1,500 active advertisers, consulting and creative agencies, content creators, production companies and others. According to statistics from the Moroccan Advertisers Association, the volume of raw advertising investments in Morocco in 2018 amounted to about 5.68 billion dirhams (half a billion dollars), of which 1.18 billion dirhams (100 million dollars) in the print and electronic press sectors (580 million dirhams in paper and 600 million dirhams in the electronic sector), but these investments are characterized by an unequal distribution(105).
If the rule is that it is the high number of sales or visitors (of electronic newspapers) that brings in commercial advertising, the situation in Morocco is not subject to this logic, in the absence of a law or ethical charter that regulates the sector and guarantees the conditions of transparency (106) in the distribution of advertising, as a less-selling paper newspaper can obtain greater revenues than the best-selling ones. A newly established online newspaper could also receive a larger share of advertising than an older, more readable one, raising concerns about the transformation of Morocco’s advertising market into an official legitimization body.107
As for public subsidies, they constitute only about 10% (108) of the annual turnover of the Moroccan press, but they remain an important resource and a key catalyst that contributes to the mobility of many SMEs. Public support for the press, under a contractual framework between the government and associations representing newspaper publishers, developed significantly between 2005 and 2019. It has doubled in size in two decades, reaching 65 million dirhams ($ 6.3 million)(109), while the government has canceled since 2021 the formula of public support in force, by bearing the wages of journalists and workers in press establishments until a new formula of public support is settled that has not been reached until the end of October 2023, knowing that it is not known the extent of support that press establishments receive within the framework of this exceptional support.
As for audiovisual media, its economic model is based on state subsidies and advertising revenues, but with the public media controlling the sector, the situation is taking a negative turn, revealed by the amounts of support received by the two public media companies, as the National Radio and Television Company acquires the lion’s share of it with financing amounting to 1.5 billion dirhams ($ 146 million) in 2020 (110), after it did not exceed 831 million dirhams ($ 81 million) in 2006. The same applies to SORIAD-Channel 2, which drains an average of 50 million dirhams ($4.9 million) from the state budget per year.111 However, it is not known whether the companies have fulfilled their obligations, as stipulated in article 51 of the Audiovisual Communication Act, which states: “The financing granted must correspond to the actual cost required to comply with these obligations”.112
The rise in government subsidies reflects the critical financial situation of the two public companies, which were the subject of a report to the Court of Auditors in 2012. Perhaps this is what drives the official authorities to unify the “National Radio and Television Company”, with “Soriad Dozim Company”, and “Medi 1 TV” in one media holding, despite the fact that the latter’s financial situation is not better than the previous two. A report by the Ministry of Communication on the strategy for the development of public audiovisual made three observations on Medi 1 TV, mainly reflected “in the widening annual funding gap despite efforts to rationalize its expenditures since 2015, restrictions on financing through advertising, and the lack of local and regional territorial presence”.113
Based on the above-mentioned negative indicators, we conclude that:
– Media companies are still dependent on state support and non-transparent advertising in the absence of a regulatory law, while print press companies live in a difficult financial situation that threatens their survival.
– There is a growing need to launch reforms in the public audiovisual sector, based on the State’s courage to proceed on the path of ending its monopoly over the sector by abandoning the channels and broadcasts of the public pole,114 accelerating the formulation of a program contract that allows the State’s support to be adapted to the size of the requirements of the public service tasks entrusted to the two companies, and the development of a program for strict internal governance, through the actual output of the Public Pole project.
6. Traditions of professional practice: the predicament of self-regulation
Morocco is one of the first Arab countries to adopt a mechanism for self-regulation of the press and its boldness, after it was constitutionalized in 2011, through the stipulation of article 28 of the constitution that: “The public authorities encourage the organization of the press sector in an independent manner, on democratic bases, and the establishment of legal and ethical rules related to it.”
The establishment of the National Press Council as a regulatory framework that guarantees the best freedom for journalists,115 faced challenges due to delays in the adoption of its legislative text, as it took about nine months to ratify it in both houses of parliament, extending from July 29, 2015, when it was approved by the government, to April 7, 2016, the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The noticeable delay included the publication of the implementing decrees of this law as well, which did not come into existence until three years later, specifically in 2019, namely the decree determining the modalities for granting and renewing the professional press card(116), and the decree appointing the government’s representative to the National Press Council(117).
The same applies to the elections to form the Council, which also witnessed an inexplicable delay, as they were held, on June 22, 2018, more than two years after the birth of the regulating law, while preparations began on April 2, 2018, with the formation of the committee supervising the process of electing representatives of professional journalists and newspaper publishers(118) stipulated in Article 54, which was composed of a judge delegated by the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power in his capacity as president, and a representative of the government authority in charge of it. By contact, a representative of the National Human Rights Council, a representative of the Association of Bar Associations of Morocco, a representative of the Most Representative Professional Journalists Syndicate119 and a representative of the Most Representative Newspaper Publishers Association.120 The convening of the National Press Council was only completed on 5 October 2018 with the election of the president and vice-president.
With the end of the mandate of the members of the National Press Council on October 4, 2022, without organizing new elections, the government intervened by approving Decree 121 to extend the life of the Council for six months exceptionally. However, the council was unable to organize elections during this transitional period due to the differing positions of the professional and trade union associations represented in it on the way to renew it, in light of the emergence of a clear desire to abandon the principle of elections in a proposed law to amend the National Press Council.
On April 4, 2023, the council entered a “legal vacuum” after the extension expired. To avoid this, at a meeting of its government council on April 13, the government approved a draft law aimed at establishing a temporary committee to manage the press and publishing sector, replacing the current National Press Council, and set the committee’s mandate for a period of two years, starting from the date of appointment of its members, if no new members are selected during this period.
Despite the initial impression that the government’s decision to form a temporary committee to manage the press and publishing sector is aimed at overcoming the complex regulatory situation, a comprehensive look reveals the government’s attempt to control and reverse the gains made in the self-regulation of the press. This comes in light of a sharp division between trade union and professional bodies, with some calling for rectifying the situation through democratic elections, while others are calling for the priority of amending the regulatory laws of the profession to overcome the imbalances that accompanied the establishment stage.
This decline is reflected in the adoption of the principle of appointment, which contradicts the idea of self-regulation of the press, especially since it is linked to the executive authority, in addition to the selection of certain members from the previous council to form the interim committee, which represents a “new extension” of the outgoing council. In the same context, tasking the interim committee, which consists mainly of the outgoing members of the Council, to develop a new vision to solve the problems facing the sector, is a waste of time, especially since it is stipulated that it should exercise the same functions stipulated in the updated law of the National Press Council.
In light of this impasse in the self-regulation mechanism, the following three principles will not be remedied:
First: Commitment to the principle of elections and avoiding resorting to appointment, even if it is in the hands of professional and union bodies, because this violates the principle of journalistic independence.
– Second: Ensuring pluralism of opinions as a healthy condition in the media society, and involving everyone in the process of protecting self-regulation.
Third: Adopting governance by preventing the transformation of the self-regulatory institution into an institution of material temptation.
7. Journalist interaction with the practice environment
7.1. Freedom of the press between grants and restrictions
The work environment in Morocco is a determinant in understanding the nature of journalistic practice, especially since the press is usually affected by the political, economic and social environment that surrounds it, and interacts with it as well as affects it at the same time(122). Therefore, the bet always remains to overcome the problem that constantly haunts the press, which is to reconcile the practice of the profession with what it means of conveying the truth as it is, dealing with the news with a kind of sacredness, and objectively expressing the mentality, spirit, tendencies and trends of the masses (123).
In Morocco, there were 3,492 journalists (124) holding a professional card during 2022, which is the last count of the National Press Council, which empowers the identification of journalists, including 392 journalists who entered the profession for the first time, distributed between 1417 working in electronic newspapers, 650 in paper newspapers, 1086 in audiovisual facilities, 54 in the official Maghreb Arab Agency, 132 freelance journalists (Free Lancer), and 153 honorary journalists(125).
In theory, press freedom in Morocco is guaranteed and cannot be restricted by any form of prior censorship under article 28 of the constitution. This applies to the confidentiality of sources that can only be disclosed by judicial decision in cases related to national defence, internal and external State security and private life, in accordance with article VIII of the Press and Publications Law, as well as the right of journalists to access news sources and obtain information from various sources except those of a confidential nature.126 However, from the point of view of international organizations concerned with press freedom, their assessment of the reality of press freedom in Morocco is negative, such as “Reporters Without Borders”(127), which ranked Morocco 144 (128) out of 180 in 2023, down nine places from 2022, after receiving 43.69 negative points. In its analysis, the organization summed up the situation in Morocco by saying: “Independent journalists in Morocco are under constant pressure as the regime tries to tighten control over the media.”[129]
On May 3, 2021, the National Syndicate of the Moroccan Press issued a report on the reality of the press in Morocco,130 concerning the period between March 2019 and March 2021, which is its latest report, in which it considered that freedom of the press remained stagnant, due to the backwardness of laws regulating freedom of publication and the press, and continues to be able to pursue journalists in cases related to the press and publication by laws other than the press law, especially the criminal law, and insists on following up some journalists in detention despite They have all guarantees of compliance with judicial decisions.
The arrest and trial of journalists without the press law is one of the most important dilemmas facing the work of journalists, and Reporters Without Borders summarized the situation of the press in Morocco in 2021 with the title: “Journalists groan under judicial pressure”(131), regardless of the criticism directed at this organization for adopting subjective assessments regarding Morocco, especially since it carries out activities in Morocco without being fair.
Between 2011 and 2023, a number of journalists were subjected to prosecutions other than the Press and Publications Law in cases of publishing charges, the latest of which was journalist Abdelmajid Amiaye, director of the “Shams Post” website, before he was released on bail after the Public Prosecution at the Court of First Instance in Oujda decided to pursue him under the Criminal Code on charges related to “broadcasting and distributing false allegations of facts through information systems with the intention of harming the private lives of people and defaming them, and then insulting a public official for carrying out his duties.” The first charge in the Criminal Code carries a penalty of up to three years’ imprisonment.132 In addition to this case, which has attracted great attention, the trial of four journalists133 on charges of leaking data and news related to the Parliament’s fact-finding committee, under the requirements of the Organic Law on Fact-Finding Commissions,134 is another model for the prosecution of journalists under laws outside the Press and Publications Law in publishing cases. On 23 December 2019, the Rabat Court of Appeal issued its verdict in this case, which is six months in prison for the four journalists and a fine of 10,000 dirhams. This raises more than one question mark about the feasibility of having a press law free of custodial penalties.
In general, the most important challenge facing a professional journalist remains the possibility of prosecuting him under the criminal law in publishing cases, especially since the government rejected three recommendations (Nos. 113, 118 and 119) aimed at not prosecuting journalists under the criminal law instead of the press and publication law in cases related to publication, received by the 2017 UPR Working Group on Morocco(135).
In September 2019, the government submitted to the UN Human Rights Council its progress report on the follow-up to the recommendations of the third round of the universal periodic review mechanisms, which is an opportunity for states to announce actions taken to improve the human rights situation and fulfill their obligations in this area.136 It did not include any indication that the three recommendations on not prosecuting journalists under the Criminal Code had been accepted.
The first recommendation, which Morocco received but did not respond, included a demand to “refrain from relying on laws other than the press law when considering violations related to freedom of expression,” while the second recommendation stipulated “ending the prosecution of journalists under the criminal law for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression, and for their concern for the right to access information.” The third recommendation called on Morocco to “end the prosecution of journalists and release them along with other individuals imprisoned solely for exercising their rights to expression, peaceful assembly and association”.137
The Government justifies its failure to support the total abolition of the prosecution of journalists under the requirements of the Criminal Code by the fact that “the prosecution of journalists in cases that do not fall within the performance of their professional duties should not be subject to the aforementioned exception, in order to preserve the rights of citizens and to achieve the principle of equality before the law”.138 Therefore, journalists continue to be prosecuted without the Press and Publications Law, without providing Article XVII of it – which stipulates that “the provisions of other laws shall not apply to everything explicitly stated in the Press and Publication Code” – to protect journalists against the possibility of prosecution under the Criminal Code in publishing cases because its wording was broad (139).
Figure 2: Morocco’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index (2011-2023)
7.2. The effectiveness of press institutions in defending freedom
Representative and trade union institutions are a key element in defending and raising press freedom within any country, which raises the question of the effectiveness of the National Press Council as a representative institution for journalists that plays the function of self-regulation of the sector, and the National Syndicate of Moroccan Press, the largest press union in the country.
Among the functions and competencies of the National Press Council, as stipulated in articles II and III of its creation law, is to monitor respect for freedom of the press, to prepare an annual report on indicators of respect for freedom of journalistic practice, violations and violations of this freedom, and the situation of the press and journalists in Morocco, and to publish it in the Official Gazette. However, the council, which officially began its work on October 5, 2018 (the date of the election of the president and vice-president), had not published any report on the matter until the end of its legal term, on October 4, 2022.
Returning to the Council’s publications, it is clear that they did not depart from five: the first: the “Code of Ethics of the Journalism Profession” published in the Official Gazette, as stipulated in the law, on July 29, 2019, which is a binding legal document to enshrine the rules of professional conduct, the second: “Mediation and arbitration in the field of journalism and publishing”, issued in December 2019, which serves as a guide for the use of mediation and arbitration mechanism to settle disputes related to the press, and third: “COVID-19 Progress Report: Monitoring Journalism Ethics”, issued in June 2020, which monitors professional slippages and violations of ethical rules in the media treatment of the “Covid-19” pandemic, fourth: report entitled “The effects of Corona on journalism and measures to exit the crisis”, issued in December 2020, and fifth: report on “The reality of journalists in Morocco”, issued in May/May 2021. It also appears that the Council did not commit to publishing annual reports on press freedom, which is a negative indicator of the Council’s failure to play its role in tracking respect for press freedom, especially since these reports are the only mechanism for the Council to publish its assessment of the status of journalistic practice and propose the necessary measures to overcome the negatives.
As for the National Syndicate of Moroccan Press, the largest syndicate of journalists in Morocco, it derives its strength from being the oldest ever, as it was founded in January 1963, and managed through its long path to remain the “mother union”(140), which embraces most of the workers and affiliates of the profession, despite the birth of sub-unions. The syndicate began as a professional association aimed at defending the honor of the profession, and achieved during its first two decades many gains(141), most notably: the abolition of the colonial French press that was published in Morocco in October 1970, and the opposition to the amendment of the Press Law in 1973, which included measures restricting freedom of the press and publication, in addition to the resistance to censorship of the press that was lifted in March 1977.
It also contributed later to the production of a law for professional journalists in 1994, and was able to impose the first collective agreement in the print press in the same year, which included many gains for journalists, and then the production of the “Framework Collective Agreement for Professional Journalists” that it signed with the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers and is still in force today. However, these gains of the syndicate did not refute the observation that it constantly adhered to, and could not prove otherwise, which is the dominance of journalists belonging to political parties over its structures, especially at the leadership level, as its presidency has not departed for more than two decades from two names that hold leadership positions in two political parties.
Table 7: Evaluation of indicators of freedom of professional practice
| Indicators | Evaluation | Reviews |
| Freedom of the press | Partial | Late classification and legislative/legal criticism |
| Prosecution of journalists under the Press and Publications Law | negative | Arrests and prosecutions of journalists under the criminal code and other draconian laws |
| National Press Council Event | negative | During his tenure, he did not publish annual reports on the state of press freedom as stipulated in his updated law |
Conclusion
The study attempted to review the transformations that took place in the Moroccan media system between 2011 and 2023, evoking the various contexts that contributed to its crystallization, and it started to answer its problem from two main ideas:
– Political and economic restrictions determine the quality of journalistic content and content, and political restrictions are reflected in the government’s tendency to impose legal restrictions on press freedom and its dealings with the media on the basis of loyalty, while economic restrictions focus on reflecting journalistic content due to the circumstances and constraints of the economic actor.
– The development of journalistic practice is not just a hoped-for change, but governs the fate of humanity, according to the French specialist in journalistic ethics, Claude-Jean Bertrand, who believes that democracy alone can in fact achieve the survival of civilization. There will be no democracy without well-informed citizens, and without quality media.
The theoretical study of the legal and institutional development of the press proved that the legislative structure of the press is one of the entrances to influence the media system in Morocco, as it was found that the compass of change for the environment of journalistic practice has not yet pointed towards a positive direction, in light of the challenges that hinder the professional journalist from carrying out his functions and roles, foremost of which is the possibility of following up the journalist without the press law, which is free of custodial penalties, despite the volume of legislation that was approved between 2011 and 2023.
The study concluded that there is a correlation between the nature of the economic model of press establishments and the freedom of professional practice, mainly due to the absence of transparency conditions in the advertising sector, which is not regulated by any law or ethical charter, uncertainty in the distribution of public support, and the worsening financial crisis in audiovisual media.
The study revealed that an approach that reduces press freedom to a good legal text will not contribute to the development of the sector unless accompanied by the independence of press institutions, which will only be guaranteed by the creation of an integrated economic model for the press establishment. This model allows for the provision of oversight of all possible entrances to influence, ensures more transparency, allows accommodating various variables and overcoming difficulties, in addition to self-regulation of the press away from the interference of the executive authority, and achieving democracy by working to ensure that the largest number of citizens benefit from the media instead of providing more communication facilities.
The study concluded that the Moroccan media system needs great work to keep it away from the interference and domination of the political system, and that all the legal and regulatory measures that were approved from 2011 until 2023 remain insufficient to provide effective solutions that contribute to overcoming the state of overlap between them.
This study was published in the third issue of Al Jazeera Journal for Communication and Media Studies, to view the full issue (click here)
About the Author
Muhammad Karim Bukhsas
Journalist and researcher in communication and media sciences.
(1) Dahir No. 1.11.91 of 27 Shaaban 1432 (July 29, 2011) implementing the text of the constitution, Official Gazette No. 5964, 28 Shaaban 1432 (July 30, 2011), pp. 3600-3627.
(2) The state of exception and the dissolution of parliament was declared by the late King Hassan II on June 7, 1965, as stipulated in the Moroccan Constitution at the time in its thirty-fifth chapter, and this came at the height of the conflict between the palace and the national parties, which means freeing the king’s hand to rule the country alone.
(3) Sabah Yassin, Media Freedom in Collapse, 1st Edition (Beirut, Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2010), p. 18.
(4) Robert Netter, History of Censorship of Publications, translated by Fouad Chahine, 1st Edition (Beirut, Dar Al-Kitab Al-Jadeed Al-Mutaheed, 2008), p. 148.
[5] Report of the draft budget of the communication sector for the year 2021, submitted to the Education, Culture and Communication Committee of the House of Representatives by Othman Al-Fardous, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, November 3, 2020, p. 14.
6 Ibid., p. 14.
[7] Almoez bin Masoud, “The Arab Print Press: The Struggle for Survival and the Challenges of Digitization,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, December 6, 2016, (accessed July 15, 2023), https://t.ly/GNmdy.
[8] Moroccan Press Report and the Effects of the Pandemic after the Lifting of the Quarantine, National Press Council, May 2021, p. 14.
[9] “Cafes are the last savior of print newspapers in Morocco,” Al-Arab, No. 11750, July 3, 2020, p. 18.
(10)”Population légale,” hcp.ma, “accessed July 15, 2023”. https://t.ly/keUPi.
11 Ibid.
(12) Report of the draft budget of the communication sector for the year 2021, previous reference, p. 11.
(13) Report of the draft budget of the communication sector for the year 2021, previous reference, p. 10.
[14] Indicators related to press freedom 2018, (Ministry of Culture and Communication-Communication Sector, 2019), p. 13.
[15] “Official data: number of Internet service subscriptions reaches 35.6 million in Morocco,” Hespress, July 19, 2023, (accessed November 8, 2023), https://cutt.us/fZDtN.
(16) It is the Moroccan Film Centre that grants filming licenses to electronic newspapers.
[17] The deadline for receiving the application files of the bilateral committee for electronic journalism was announced in the communiqué of the “bilateral committee of the written press” issued on August 3, 2015, which is the condition required in order to enable press companies to prepare their files and provide access to public support.
(18) Obtaining the number of the Bilateral Commission for Print Press is a prerequisite for applying for public support. In order to obtain it, the press company must be in a sound position vis-à-vis the laws in force (the filing of the permit to issue the newspaper with the Crown Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance, the company’s articles of association, the certificate of registration in the commercial register, the tax certificate for the current year, and the certificate of enrollment in social security). It is also required that the area allocated for advertising does not exceed 50% of the newspaper’s annual area, that the collective framework agreement for professional journalists is respected and applied, and that it has a minimum number of journalists working according to the nature of the newspaper.
[19] Ismail Azim, The Challenges of Electronic Journalism, (Tunisia, ARAK Foundation Publications, 2018), p. 18.
(20) Mohamed Zohri, Audiovisual Media Transformations and Stakes, (Fez, Horizon Center for Media Studies, 2020), p. 94.
(21) Embarek Bouderga, Hadiths on what happened – fragments from my biography as narrated by Bouderqa: the biography of Abderrahmane Youssoufi, (Moroccan Publishing House, 2018), p. 191.
[22] Dahir No. 1.02.212 of 22 Jumada II 1423 (August 31, 2002) establishing the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Official Gazette No. 5035, 24 Jumada II (September 2, 2002), pp. 2541-2545.
[23] Decree-Law No. 2.02.663 of 2 Rajab 1423 (September 10, 2002) ending the state monopoly in the field of radio and television broadcasting, Official Gazette, No. 5038, 4 Rajab 1423 (September 12, 2002), p. 2615.
[24] Dahir No. 1.04.257 issued on 25 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1425 implementing Law No. 77.03 on audiovisual communication, Official Gazette No. 5288, 23 Dhu al-Hijjah 1425 (February 3, 2005), pp. 404-418.
(25) Zohri, Transformations and Challenges of Audiovisual Media in Morocco, op. cit., p. 98.
[26] “Signing of the Books of Charges of New Private Audiovisual Operators,” High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, May 17, 2006, (accessed July 20, 2023), https://cutt.us/xKi5Z.
(27) Its name is now “Medi 1 TV”, which was recently nationalized.
[28] “Results of Announcements of the Competition for the Second Generation of Licenses,” High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, February 23, 2009 (accessed July 20, 2023), https://cutt.us/WMTM2.
[29] The National Radio and Television Company (SNRT) was established in April 2005, sixty days after the publication of the audiovisual communication law in the Official Gazette, by transforming the Moroccan Radio and Television Corporation and the Independent Advertising Service into a joint stock company subject to the legislation on joint stock companies. The state owns its total capital, as part of the legal procedures followed to end the state’s monopoly on public media. The Moroccan Radio and Television Corporation (RTM) existed in March 1962, the day after the establishment of Moroccan television, while the Independent Advertising Service was a public service of the Ministry in charge of Information with a monopoly on the marketing of advertising links listed on Moroccan radio and television.
30 The three public channels are: the Moroccan national television channel Al-Oula Terrestrial Broadcast, the Moroccan national television channel Al-Oula Al-Satellite and the national Amazigh-language television channel Tamazight.
(31) The five thematic channels are: “Cultural”, “Sixth” or “Mohammed VI Channel for the Holy Quran”, “Sports”, “Magharebia”, “Films” or “Seventh”.
32 Regional television channel Laayoune.
33 The three national radio stations are: the Moroccan national radio called “Radio National”, the national Amazigh-language radio called “Radio Amazigh ” and the national radio called “Radio International”.
34 The national thematic radio station for the broadcasting of the Holy Qur’an, called “Mohammed VI Radio of the Holy Quran”.
35 Regional Radio of Casablanca, Agadir, Dakhla, Fez, Laayoune, Marrakech, Meknes, Oujda, Tangier, Tetouan and Al Hoceima.
[36] The Audiovisual Studies and Achievements Company was founded in 1989 with the participation of four entities: Ammonium North Africa[1] (UNA), French television TF1, Canadian group Videotron and Sofirad[1]. Under an exploitation agreement signed with the Moroccan state, it established the second channel, Dozim, which began broadcasting its programs in codes, with two intervals per day, on March 4, 1989, as the first commercial channel for Morocco, Africa and the Arab world. On June 19, 1996, the Moroccan state will regain control of the company following financial difficulties through the acquisition of a 68% stake in its capital.
(37) Report of the draft budget of the communication sector for the year 2021, previous reference, p. 20.
[38] “Fake public television affiliated with LAMAB devours millions of Moroccans and operates outside the law,” Madar 21, April 6, 2023, (accessed July 20, 2023), https://t.ly/l3x__.
[39] Dahir No. 1.16.122 issued on 6 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 10, 2016) implementing Law No. 88.13 on the Press and Publications, Official Gazette, No. 6491, 11 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 15, 2016), pp. 5966-5987.
[40] Dahir No. 1.16.51 of 19 Rajab 1437 (April 27, 2016) implementing Law No. 89.13 on the Statute of Professional Journalists, Official Gazette, No. 6466, 12 Shaaban 1437 (May 19, 2016), pp. 3849-3853.
[41] Dahir No. 1.16.24 issued on 30 Jumada al-Awwal 1437 (March 10, 2016) implementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, Official Gazette No. 6454, 28 Jumada II 1437 (April 7, 2016), pp. 2961-2969.
[42] Article 1 of Law No. 88.13 on the Press and Publications, see Official Gazette, No. 6491, 11 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 15, 2016), p. 5966.
[43] Mohamed Larbi Massari (July 8, 1936 – July 25, 2015) was a Moroccan journalist and politician, who served as Minister of Communication from March 1998 until his resignation in September 2000.
[44] “Mustapha El Khalfi: International reports do not reflect the reality of the great efforts currently made by Morocco (dialogue),” Al-Tajdid, No. 3145, May 10-12, 2013, p. 7.
[45] Hicham Madasha, Regulatory Bodies: Regulating the Audiovisual Communication Sector as a Model, (Casablanca, New An-Najah Press, 2018), p. 79.
[46] Dahir No. 1.16.123 issued on 21 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 25, 2016) implementing Law No. 11.15 on the reorganization of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Official Gazette No. 6502, 20 Dhu al-Hijjah 1437 (September 22, 2016), pp. 6810-6818.
[47] Dahir No. 1.18.15 issued on 5 Jumada II 1439 (22 February 2018) implementing Law No. 31.13 on the Right to Information, Official Gazette No. 6655, 23 Jumada II 1439 (12 March 2018), pp. 1438-1443.
[48] Moroccan Strategic Report 2010-2013, coordinated by Abdellah Saaf, (Center for Studies and Research in the Social Sciences, New An-Najah Press, tenth report), p. 491.
[49] Dahir No. 1.16.104 issued on 13 Shawwal 1437 (July 18, 2016) implementing Law No. 73.15 amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Penal Code, Official Gazette, No. 6491, 11 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 15, 2016), pp. 5992-5993.
[50] “Decision of the President of the National Press Council on the Publication of the Code of Ethics,” Official Gazette, No. 6799, 26 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1440 (July 29, 2019), pp. 5326-5329.
(51) Article 1 of Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council.
(52) Article II of Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council.
[53] Dahir No. 1.02.212 of 22 Jumada II 1423 (August 31, 2002) establishing the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Official Gazette No. 5035, 24 Jumada II 1423 (September 2, 2002), pp. 2541-2545.
(54) Omar Ahrachane, Press and Communication Law in Morocco: An Analytical and Documentary Study, (Casablanca, East Africa, 2020), p. 72.
[55] Statistical study on the reality of Moroccan journalists, National Press Council, May 2021, p. 14.
[56] Dahir No. 1.16.122 issued on 6 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1437 (August 10, 2016) implementing Law No. 88.13 on the Press and Publications, Official Gazette, No. 6491, op. cit., p. 5968.
(57) Dahir No. 1.23.62 issued on 23 Muharram 1445 (August 10, 2023) implementing Law No. 15.23 establishing a temporary committee to manage the affairs of the press and publishing sector, Official Gazette, No. 7228, 21 Safar 1445 (September 7, 2023), pp. 7226-7227.
(58) Proposed law amending and supplementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, registration number in the House of Representatives (first chamber of parliament): 204, registration date: January 16, 2023.
(59) The proposed law was submitted by the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Authenticity and Modernity Group (PAM), and the Istiqlal Group for Unity and Parity, and these three are the government coalition teams, as well as the opposition teams: the Haraki Group, the Social Democratic Constitutional Group, and the Progress and Socialism Group, and was referred to the House of Representatives on January 18, 2023. Before being referred to the relevant committee, the text was withdrawn by the letter of the team leaders dated 3 February 2023.
(60) Proposed law amending and supplementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, House of Representatives’ website, (accessed October 26, 2023), https://cutt.us/Y2Lws.
61 Proposed law amending and supplementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, op. cit., p. 8.
62 Ibid.
63 Proposed law amending and supplementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, op. cit., p. 12.
64 Proposed law amending and supplementing Law No. 90.13 establishing the National Press Council, op. cit., p. 8.
(65) Text of Draft Law No. (22.20) on the Use of Social Networks, Open Broadcasting Networks and Similar Networks, Arab Legal Library, (accessed October 26, 2023), https://t.ly/HFOhh.
66 Article 14 of the draft law No. 22.20 on the use of social networks, open broadcasting networks and similar networks, op. cit., p. 6.
(67) Draft Law No. 71.17 amending and supplementing Law No. 88.13 on Press and Publications, referred to the Bureau of the House of Representatives on March 20, 2018.
(68) Sabah Yassin, Media and Politics. The Ambiguous Relationship, 1st Edition (Beirut, Knowledge Forum, 2019), p. 7.
(69) Jamal Zarn, Internationalization of Arab Media: Vessel, Awareness, Identity, 1st Edition (Damascus, pages for studies and publishing, 2007), p. 33.
(70) Judith Lazar, Sociology of Mass Communication, translated by Ali Watfa and Haitham Staihi, (Damascus, Dar Al-Yanabi for Printing, Publishing and Distribution, 1994), p. 167.
(71) Serge Halimi, les nouveaux chiens de garde, (Paris: Raisons d’agir, Enlarged édition, 2005), 72-73.
[72] Dahir No. 1.58.378 of 3 Jumada al-Awwal 1378 (15 November 1958) on the Press Law, Official Gazette, No. 2404 bis, 16 Jumada al-Awwal 1378 (27 November 1958), pp. 2856-2864.
[73] Dahir No. 1.61.339 issued on 23 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1381 (April 28, 1962) amending Dahir No. 1.58.378, considered to be an organic law for the press in Morocco, Official Gazette, No. 2585, 6 Dhu al-Hijjah 1381 (May 11, 1962), p. 1115.
[74] Dahir No. 1.73.285 of 6 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1393 (April 10, 1973) amending and supplementing Dahir No. 1.58.378 on the Press Law, Official Gazette No. 3154, 7 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1393 (April 11, 1973), pp. 1066-1068.
[75] The laws on public freedoms are three laws issued after Morocco’s independence, specifically in 1958, namely the Press Code, the Law on the Right of Association, and the Law on Public Assemblies.
(76) Dahir No. 1.02.207 issued on 25 Rajab 1423 (October 3, 2002) implementing Law No. 77.00 amending and supplementing Dahir No. 1.58.378 on the Press and Publications Law. Official Gazette, No. 5075, 17 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1423 (January 20, 2003), pp. 220-227.
[77] Zayed Bouziane, “Arab Audiovisual Media Regulation: Its Legal and Political Controls,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, October 27, 2016, (accessed July 15, 2023), https://t.ly/mLskp.
[78] Yahya Yahyaoui, “On the Tensions between Media, Communication and Politics,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, November 14, 2013, (accessed July 15, 2023), https://t.ly/4JN2z.
[79] Abdelfattah Benchena, Driss Ksiks, Dominique Marchetti, “The State of the Print and Electronic Press in Morocco: Political Economy par excellence,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, February 20, 2009, (accessed July 15, 2023), https://t.ly/QPF67.
(80) William Rugh, Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics, 1 ed (London: Praeger, 2004), 103.
81 Benchena, Ksiks, Marchetti, “The state of the print and electronic press in Morocco”, op. cit.
82 Debra Potter, Handbook on Independent Journalism (Bureau of Foreign Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, 2006), p. 5.
[83] The Economist is the main platform for Ecomedia, a French-language daily newspaper specializing in economics and finance, founded by Abdel Moneim al-Dailami and Nadia Salah.
84 French-language public weekly, established by journalist Mohamed Selhami, targeting Moroccans around the world, with editions in Europe, the United States and Canada.
[85] Founded in 1957 by Marcel Herzog, the French-language “La Avi Eco” is a long-established Moroccan newspaper concerned with business and financial news. In 1994, it was acquired by journalist Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber, before being resold three years later, and became published by Lavi Eco Press, a subsidiary of Aqua Holding Group, owned by Aziz Akhannouch.
86 Benchena, Kssex, Marchetti, “The State of the Print and Electronic Press in Morocco”, op. cit.
[87] It is considered the most influential newspaper in the history of Moroccan journalism, breaking a number of red lines and facing a number of cases in court until it was confiscated in January 2010, founded by Abu Bakr Jamaï, Ali Ammar, and Hassan al-Mansouri.
(88) The Arabic version of the newspaper “Le Journal”, founded by Abu Bakr Jama’i and managed by Noureddine Muftah until he left it and his editorial team to establish “Al-Ayyam”, and remained published for months before it stopped permanently.
[89] Al-Ayyam, a weekly Arabic-language newspaper, was founded by Noureddine Muftah, its publishing director and editor-in-chief until today, after he and his editorial team left the weekly newspaper Al-Safa. The newspaper is published by the company “Media Ayyam” for its president Muftah.
[90] Le Desk, Reporters Without Borders, Media Ownership Observatory, June 23, 2023, (accessed November 8, 2023), https://cutt.us/CuEgC.
[91] A public news magazine founded by journalist Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, whose project was supported by fifteen investors linked to the world of finance and business, especially the French journalist, Jean-Louis Servan Schreiber, his former manager at Lafi Economics. In 2006, Telquel launched an edition in the Moroccan colloquial dialect called Nichane. In 2010, Press Direct, which released Tel Quel, became owned by businessmen Karim Tazi and Khaled Hariri.
92 Le Desk, Reporters Without Borders, “Media Ownership Observatory”, op. cit., p. 86.
(93) “Moroccan events” was founded by Mohamed Berini, who for a long time ran the newspaper “Socialist Union” of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces but since 2015 it has been published by the Maghreb Media Corporation, owned by the Global Media Group, which is owned by its owner Ahmed Legitimate.
94 Le Desk, Reporters Without Borders, “Media Ownership Observatory”, op. cit., p. 33.
(95) Founded by the “Ecomedia” group, which publishes “The Economist” to its owners, Abdel Moneim Al-Dailami and Nadia Salah.
96 Le Desk, Reporters Without Borders, “Media Ownership Observatory”, op. cit., p. 123.
[97] Published by Masaa Media Group in September 2006, at the initiative of two journalists with a large readership, Taoufik Bouachrine and Rachid Nini, then joined by former banker Samir Shawky and Mohamed Asali, a director and producer who helped finance the project. But the newspaper was subjected to prosecutions that ended the relationship between the founding members. Bouachrine and Nini left to establish their own pulpit, while Shawqi joined another platform, which remained in Asali’s possession. Until 2015, Al-Massae was the most widely circulated Moroccan daily news newspaper in the Kingdom.
(98) Akhbar al-Youm was founded in 2009 by Taoufik Bouachrine after he left al-Massaa. In 2009, following a trial in which the defendant was Moulay Ismail, the king’s cousin, after a cartoon was published, the newspaper was suspended and returned a year later under its current name, Akhbar al-Yawm al-Maghribia.
[99] Al-Akhbar was founded in 2012 and confirmed its status as the most widely distributed Arabic-language newspaper in Morocco in 2016, and was launched by journalist Rachid Nini, who founded it alone after leaving the newspaper “Al-Massae”, which he helped establish. The newspaper is affiliated with the “First Media” Foundation.
(100) Mohamed Bakkali, The Question of Professionalism and Ideology in Journalism: The Moroccan Case as a Model, (Beirut, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 2018), p. 95.
(101) Sabah Yassin, Media: Value System and the Hegemony of Power, (Beirut, Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2006), p. 47.
(102) Rugh, Arab Mass Media, 105.
[103] “Report Warns of Cardiac Arrest, Moroccan Press Collapse,” Bayan al-Youm, December 12, 2021, (accessed November 8, 2023), https://cutt.us/QxLOc.
(104) “5 questions that bring you closer to the reality of the advertising market in Morocco,” Al Jazeera Net, May 15, 2021, (accessed October 27, 2021), https://cutt.us/Xdd4c.
(105) Report on the effects of the Corona pandemic on the press sector and measures to get out of the crisis, previous reference, p. 9.
[106] “Khalfi: Morocco’s Advertising Industry Is Not Transparent,” Hespress, February 24, 2012 (accessed October 27, 2021), https://t.ly/hI1nZ.
(107) Pierre Bourdieu, Television and the Mechanisms of Manipulating Minds, translated by Darwish Al-Halluji, (Damascus, Dar Canaan for Studies, Publishing and Media Services, 2004), p. 63.
(108) Report of the Moroccan press and the effects of the pandemic after the lifting of the quarantine, previous reference, previous reference, p. 25.
109 Ibid.
[110] “Details of the existential threat to the public pole,” Al-Ayyam, No. 1034, April 20, 2023, p. 20.
111 Ibid.
(112) Dahir No. (1.04.257) issued on 25 Dhu al-Qa’dah 1425 implementing Law No. (77.03) on audiovisual communication. Official Gazette, No. 5288, op. cit., p. 414.
(113) Presentation of the strategy for the development of public audiovisual, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, presented to the Liaison Committee of the House of Representatives, 2021.
[114] Abdallah Amouche, “Public Media: A ‘Formal’ Pluralism Drains State Resources,” Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, August 2023 (accessed October 28, 2023), https://mipa.institute/10657.
(115) The Swedish Press and Broadcasting authority, “Regulation of the Media and Media Subsidy”, ITP, (January 19, 2023): 16.
(116) Decree No. 2.19.121 of 17 Rajab 1440 (March 14, 2019) laying down the procedures for granting and renewing the professional press card, Official Gazette, No. 6764, 21 Rajab 1440 (March 28, 2019), pp. 1658-1659.
(117) Decree No. 2.18.849 of 16 Jumada I 1440 (January 23, 2019) appointing the government’s representative to the National Press Council, Official Gazette, No. 6750, Fatih Jumada II 1440 (February 7, 2019), p. 383.
(118) Decision of the Supervisory Committee for the Election of Representatives of Professional Journalists and Newspaper Publishers No. 1/18 of 16 Rajab 1439 corresponding to April 2, 2018, specifying the modalities for the conduct and organization of the stages of electing members of the National Press Council.
[119] The most representative syndicate of the period was the National Syndicate of Moroccan Press.
120 The most representative publishers’ body of the period was the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers.
[121] Decree-Law No. 2.22.770 promulgating special provisions for the National Press Council, September 29, 2022, Prime Minister’s Official Website (accessed November 8, 2023), https://t.ly/ln4hc.
(122) Abdel Karim Al-Abdlawi and others, Media in the Arab World between Liberation and the Reproduction of Hegemony, (Cairo, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Reform Issues Series (15), 2007), p. 165.
(123) Muhammad al-Baka, Media and Language: Language Levels and Application, (Damascus, Dar Nineveh for Studies, Publishing and Distribution, 2010), p. 11.
[124] “Statistics on the Number of Female Journalists and Journalists Holding a Professional Press Card for the Year 2022,” National Press Council (accessed November 8, 2023), https://cutt.us/4mdWb
(125) An honorary journalist is “any professional journalist who has retired after practicing journalism for at least 21 years,” according to the law as the statute for professional journalists.
(126) Confidential information is that contained in article 27 of the Constitution: protection of national defence, internal and external security of the State, private life of individuals and infringement of fundamental freedoms and rights.
127 A French non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, founded in 1985 in Montpellier, France by four journalists, has become over the years a leading world organization in the defence and promotion of press freedom.
[128] World Press Freedom Index 2023, Media work groaning under the threat of a disinformation machine, Reporters Without Borders (accessed October 27, 2023), https://cutt.us/eNMzQ.
129 Ibid.
[130] National Syndicate of Moroccan Press, “The Reality of Press Freedom in Morocco: March 2019-March 2021,” May 3, 2021, p. 34.
[131] World Press Freedom Index 2021, Journalism is the most effective vaccine against disinformation, Reporters Without Borders (accessed October 27, 2023), https://cutt.us/4H4fg.
[132] Chapter 2-447 of the Penal Code, updated June 14, 2021, Ministry of Justice, p. 148.
(133) The four journalists, Abdelhak Belchgar, Mohamed Ahdad, Kawthar Zaki and Abdelilah Sakhir, were charged with leaking information related to the deliberations of the parliamentary fact-finding committee on pension funds and the disclosure of professional secret.
[134] Dahir No. 1.14.125 of 3 Shawwal 1435 (July 31, 2014) implementing Organic Law No. 13.085 on the Functioning of Parliamentary Fact-Finding Committees, Official Gazette, No. 6282, 17 Shawwal 1435 (August 14, 2014), pp. 6375-6377.
135 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (Morocco), Universal Periodic Review (third round), Human Rights Council (36th session), 29 September 2017, pp. 22-32.
136 Basic facts about the UPR, Human Rights Council, United Nations, ICR website (accessed October 8, 2023), https://t.ly/ZOFna.
137 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (Morocco), op. cit., p. 27.
138 Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and responses by the State under review, Universal Periodic Review (third round), Human Rights Council (36th session), 29 September 2017, p. 7.
[139] Sami El Moudni, “Press Freedom: Technical Measures Not Enough,” Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, January 22, 2020 (accessed October 27, 2023), https://mipa.institute/7241.
(140) “Press Unions in Morocco… Struggle or interests?” , The New Arab, August 20, 2018 (accessed October 27, 2023). https://cutt.us/0nuYG
[141] “Bright Stations and a Historic Struggle for Press and Media Freedom,” National Syndicate of Moroccan Press website, September 13, 2018, (accessed October 27, 2023), https://cutt.us/tzbCq.
