Morocco: RSF sets out eight recommendations for the new government led by Fatima Ezzahra El-Mansouri

RSF's eight recommendations

1. End the weaponisation of the Criminal Code and abolish prison sentences for expression-related offences.
Although the 2016 Press Code no longer provides for prison sentences, the Criminal Code still allows imprisonment for non-violent expression-related offences, including offences against Islam, the monarchy or territorial integrity. Combined with the lack of judicial independence, these vaguely worded provisions allow journalists to be convicted for simply doing their jobs. RSF also calls for the offences set out in Article 71 of the Press Code to be repealed or narrowly defined, to bring the law into line with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects freedom of opinion and expression.

2. End SLAPPs (abusive proceedings known as strategic lawsuits against public participation) targeting journalists.
RSF calls on the authorities to end abusive legal proceedings aimed at intimidating journalists and deterring them from continuing their work, including in the following three cases. Independent journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in November 2024, faced five separate legal proceedings in 2025, all brought by the same complainant: the Minister of Justice. Ali Anouzla, publication director of the news site Lakome 2, has been prosecuted since 2013 for "condoning terrorism", with his trial repeatedly adjourned. More recently, in July 2026, French-Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet was arrested upon arrival in Morocco and held in police custody as part of an investigation into the alleged "dissemination of false information". He was released three days later, but the investigation remains open.

3. Introduce legislation to protect journalists against undue surveillance.
The Pegasus Project revelations in July 2021, backed by technical analysis from Amnesty International, showed that numerous Moroccan journalists had been targeted by the spyware, including Omar Radi, Taoufik Bouachrine, Soulaimane Raissouni, Omar Brouksy and Maria Moukrim. Spying on journalists violates not only their right to privacy, but crucially the confidentiality of their sources. RSF, which filed a complaint in France against NSO Group in 2021 alongside 24 journalists of nine different nationalities, calls on Morocco to end these practices and to adopt a protective legal framework.

4. Guarantee journalists' safety.
RSF calls on the government to ensure journalists can work safely and to establish effective mechanisms to protect them against harassment, threats and attacks linked to their reporting. This also means combating cyberharassment and ensuring journalists have unhindered access to reporting locations. Such access has sometimes been obstructed, as illustrated by the expulsions of foreign journalists (Casablanca in 2023, Fnideq in August 2026), as well as restrictions on coverage of the GenZ 212 youth movement.

5. Guarantee the independence of the National Press Council to ensure that it can effectively uphold journalistic ethics.
After several years under an interim management committee, new members of the National Press Council (CNP) were elected in September 2026. The challenge now is to ensure the CNP's independence in practice. With seven of its 21 members appointed by and representing public authorities, including the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power and the National Human Rights Council, safeguards are needed to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory decisions. Once its independence is guaranteed, the CNP will be able to fulfil its role effectively, including by sanctioning media outlets that conduct smear campaigns against journalists and civil society in breach of professional ethics. One example is the online hate campaign targeting several journalists since late July, including Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni, Taoufik Bouachrine, Hamid El Mahdaoui and Ali Anouzla.

6. End economic pressure on media outlets.
RSF recommends ensuring that public subsidies to media outlets, particularly independent online news outlets, are granted and withdrawn transparently, with avenues of appeal to challenge arbitrary funding freezes. This support should help strengthen ethical standards among independent media outlets, many of which are struggling financially because of a lack of state support or obstacles to their sources of revenue, including advertising boycotts and pressure on advertisers. RSF also calls for safeguards to ensure that neither public funding nor institutional advertising is used to influence editorial independence.

7. Guarantee the right of access to public information.
RSF calls on the authorities and public institutions to facilitate journalists' access to official sources and information of public interest.

8. Support the long-term viability of independent media and improve journalists' working conditions.
RSF calls on the new government to support independent media, particularly small outlets and regional newsrooms, and to improve journalists' working conditions and social protection.

Morocco ranks 105th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2026 World Press Freedom Index.