Introduction

Article 25 of the 2011 Moroccan constitution clearlyrefers to the principle of freedom of expression andevokes guarantees about ‘freedom of thought,opinion, and expression in all its forms’. Theconstitutional text also refers to ‘freedom ofcreativity and publishing in the domains ofliterature, art and scientific research’, while itbans ‘any violation of the privacy of personalcommunication unless via a judicial order in duecases’. In article 28, the constitution states that‘the freedom of the press is guaranteed. It may notbe restricted by any form of prior censorship.Everyone has the right to express and publish news,ideas, and opinions, freely and without limitation,save that which is explicitly set forth in law’. Ingeneral, the constitution gives civil societyimportant legislative tools through which to expressopinions, evaluate public policies and proposechanges to official resolutions. In addition, theMoroccan public sphere today is sprinkled withvarious media outlets, twenty-eight differentnewspapers, seventeen private radio stations, ten TVstations and at least fifteen regional and thematicradio stations (OJD 2022).

However, the constitutional basis of freedom of speechhas not prevented the Moroccan state from clampingdown on journalists. Through different strategies,newspapers in Morocco are not allowed criticalreporting about the state, especially when it isdirected against the Makhzen, a term associated with thepalace, its inner circle and close associates. Inthe 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled byReporters Without Borders (2021), Morocco ranked136th, an important sign of a major crisisnegatively affecting journalism and freedom ofspeech in the country. In recent years, practicallyall independent newspapers have disappeared fromnews-stands, while the very few journalists who takethe risk of confronting the state are subjected todifferent forms of harassment through theinstrumentalisation of a judiciary system which hasbecome increasingly under political control. Thecrackdown on journalists started to become moreevident in the context of the coverage of the Rifprotests, and since then it has furtheramplified.

An increasing number of Moroccans are expressingthemselves and their grievances via social media,because official venues are either under differentforms of state control or repressed, while criticalvoices within the political elite are almostabsent.