Morocco Proposes Bill to Regulate Social Media, Curb Defamation and Privacy Violations

The text proposed by the executive sanctions any Internet user guilty of defamation against ministers, parliamentarians, elected officials, party leaders and citizens, reports Assabah, adding that it will henceforth be forbidden to treat political leaders and others as "thieves".

Similarly, any manipulation of videos and the exploitation of minors and people suffering from mental illnesses, presented in an ironic or humiliating way, will be liable to legal action. The Minister of Justice has included in the new text relating to Internet activities, provisions relating to defamation, the dissemination of videos of people without their consent or the distortion of their remarks in interviews and statements.

For Ouahbi, it is necessary to provide for financial and alternative sanctions in the new amendments to the Penal Code to protect citizens from these acts committed in the name of freedom of expression.

In reaction, the opposition in parliament denounced a "muzzling of mouths", which restricts freedom of expression on social networks, the newspaper points out.