Silenced - Morocco
21/09/2003
Morocco
By all accounts, the Internet in Morocco is generally one of
the most liberated in Africa, although access levels remain low due to the high
cost for users. According to a Human Rights Watch report on Internet access in
the region, “The government of Morocco does not restrict access to the Internet
or censor content.” This may be changing following the adoption of a new
anti-terrorism law in June 2003 following the bombings in Casablanca.
Internet penetration is limited by the illiteracy rate (as
high as 50 percent in the late 1990s), the cost of access, and the lack of
access to computers and even phone lines (in the late 1990s, only 31.9 percent
of Moroccans had telephone service).
Internet censorship appears to be limited. The US State
Department reports that access to web sites run by the Islamist Justice and
Charity Organization (JCO) are blocked. The Human Rights Watch report quotes
Karl Stanzick, who manages a Rabat-based ISP called MTDS (Morocco Trade and
Development Services), who said that no government approval is required to
obtain an Internet account or post a web site, and “all Internet subscribers in
Morocco can be completely anonymous if they wish.” He added that the
authorities have not imposed on ISPs any form of legal liability for materials
they carry, and that he was unaware of any ISP that had been punished for
“objectionable” content. Stanzick noted, however, that the “red lines” that
inhibit political commentary in traditional media – the taboos on questioning
the institution of the monarchy and Morocco’s claim to the Western Sahara, and
on “insulting” the King or Islam – also limit what Moroccans are willing to
post in public chat-rooms and electronic bulletin boards.
The traditional media, however, are often censored by the
authorities. Three journalists have been convicted under the new anti-terrorism
law. Newspaper editions have been confiscated and top personnel fired for
reporting on contentious issues such as the self-determination of Western
Sahara or running interviews with for example the Polisario Front. Criticism of
Islam or of the monarch is not allowed and many journalists have been censored
for libel, national security violations or vaguely defined “offensive
reporting”. Newspapers use the Internet to publish articles that have been
censored.
References
Agence Nationale de
Réglementation des Télécommunications
http://www.anrt.net.ma/
Secrétariat d’Etat auprès du Premier Ministre, chargé de la
Poste, des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication
http://www.septi.gov.ma/
Morocco Internet Society
http://www.misoc.org.ma/
International Telecommunications
Union statistics report, 2001
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/
Human Rights Watch: The Internet In The Mideast And North
Africa - Country Profiles - Morocco
http://www.hrw.org/advocacy/internet/mena/morocco.htm
UNECA, NICI Infrastructure and
Policy for Morocco
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/Documents_English/moroccopub.en.doc
US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices - 2002: Morocco. March 31, 2003
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18284.htm
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