In 2011 Morocco passed a new constitution that guarantees freedom of press, but in reality this is not the case. According to Freedom House, Morocco’s freedom of press status for 2013 is ‘Not Free’. Freedom House explains the rating by saying that although Morocco passed a new constitution in 2011 that guarantees freedom of press this promise has not been fulfilled by the government. Due to the vague language in the constitution it enables for loose interpretation of the law and hinders media protections. In the same constitution that guarantees press freedom there is another law that forbids criticism of the Moroccan monarchy and Islamic religion. If this law is violated it is considered a criminal offense and can result in prison time or hefty fines.
In February 2012 a Moroccan teenage student was sentenced to 18 months in prison after posting a cartoon drawing of the king on his Facebook page. In that same month a man was sentenced to three years in prison for criticizing royal policies and calling the king a dog in a video that was uploaded on YouTube. In both of these examples, it shows that the government takes this law very seriously and its penalties can affect ordinary citizens, not just professional journalists that write for newspapers or magazines. With these vague laws in the constitution it can cause people to not know what their exact protections are when it comes to freedom of speech. One Moroccan columnist said, “The freedom of the press is very relative and the independence of journalists is most often trumped by the interests of political and economic decision-makers.” To avoid harsh punishments like the ones listed earlier in the post many journalists decide to practice self-censorship. This is dangerous because it means that journalists are afraid to publish certain newsworthy materials that might be vital for the public to know. I am happy that a respectable organization like Freedom House was not fooled by Morocco’s hypocritical constitution and has given their press freedom the appropriate rating of ‘Not Free’.
Posted by Tyler Ainge
Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/morocco