Morocco’s Proposed Social Media Boycott Law Sparks Fierce Debate

According to the initial text of the draft, any call to boycott products on social networks is punishable by a sentence of 6 months to 1 year in prison and a fine of 5,000 to 50,000 dirhams. The text provides for the same penalty for any call that would encourage customers to withdraw their funds from banks.

According to some indiscretions, the drafting of this bill would follow an unprecedented campaign, launched a year ago against well-known brands such as Centrale laitière, Sidi Ali or Afriquia. "This campaign has weakened a part of the national economy, reducing the state’s tax revenues and threatening to lay off hundreds of employees," a government source told Le360.

The Council of Government had adopted draft law 22.20 on March 19, 2020. A controversy will follow that is swelling on the web after passages from the text have leaked. With the hashtag "Down with the 2020 law", Internet users denounce an attack on freedom of expression.

Faced with the controversy, a government source says that a commission under the Executive is working on the revision of the text, the final version of which will be consensual. The minutes of the government meeting on March 19, 2020 specify that this text has raised observations and that a technical commission has been created to take them into account.