Morocco Cracks Down on Digital Begging: New Law Targets Social Media Panhandlers

"Begging on social networks is no different from begging on the street: it is an act punished by law," Ouahbi said in response to an oral question in Parliament, explaining that people who engage in these practices provide false information or data to defraud their victims. The minister also denounced organizations that engage in disguised begging by initiating fundraising campaigns, recalling that the law on the organization of charitable action strictly regulates these operations.

The official added that measures are being taken to protect children exploited for the purpose of begging. In this regard, the Ministry of Justice has developed a bill to create a National Agency for the Protection of Children, Ouahbi said, specifying that this project has already been adopted by the Council of Government and will be submitted in the coming days to the Justice and Legislation Commission of the House of Representatives.

The member of the government recalled that Morocco had nearly 200,000 beggars in 2007 and that 6,128 cases of begging were handled by the courts in 2020, leading to the conviction of 6,525 people. Ouahbi also stressed the need to strengthen specialized courts, particularly family courts, to deal with cases of marriage, divorce, violence against women and children.