Morocco Moves Firmly to Protect Its Digital Sovereignty
Experts call for public awareness campaigns and warn against relying solely on legal measures, noting that the digital security of national institutions is increasingly exposed. The Moroccan government seeks to regulate the digital space, particularly smart applications and social media platforms, through a draft law governing “virtual practices,” with the goal of keeping pace with rapid technological changes and striking a balance between freedom of expression and the protection of societal values.
According to officials, the draft law the government plans to submit to Parliament aims to safeguard collective values and protect vulnerable groups, especially minors. Experts, however, call for complementing the legal approach with public awareness campaigns, warning that the digital security of state institutions may be targeted at a time when cybersecurity capabilities remain limited.
Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mehdi Bensaid, previously announced the government’s intention to introduce and adopt a comprehensive law to regulate the digital sphere, including digital platforms and social networks. Speaking before Parliament last November, he stated that the bill aims to keep up with rapid technological developments and to balance freedom of expression with the protection of societal values and vulnerable groups, particularly minors.
According to the minister, the initiative comes in response to the major transformations in communication and media systems over the past two decades, driven by the expansion of social media and digital applications. This has created an open space where opportunities for expression intersect with growing risks affecting children and young people. He noted that despite the positive aspects of these platforms, they have also become a source of negative phenomena, including verbal and visual violence, behavioral deviations, hate speech and the spread of misinformation.
Abdelhakim Ahmin, a Moroccan expert in media and communication, considers the initiative beneficial but late compared to the experiences of Arab and Western countries, explaining that Gulf states and various foreign nations have already enacted laws to regulate the digital domain. He stressed the need to benefit from these experiences to build a regulatory framework suited to Morocco’s needs and to establish bodies for innovation and cybersecurity.
He added that Morocco has a significant opportunity to learn from the experiences of European countries, Canada and Singapore in developing legislation capable of responding to internal and external challenges posed by digital transformation. He warned that major digital corporations impose themselves strongly on all countries, including Arab and European states. He also cautioned against risks to Morocco’s institutional digital security, citing a global digital environment marked by manipulation, misinformation and the proliferation of fake accounts.
He explained that fake accounts created for disinformation are becoming increasingly influential, affecting educational, health, economic and research sectors, and even fields related to public influence and opinion shaping. He added that Morocco cannot legislate without respecting human rights principles and international standards while maintaining its national identity, Arab, Islamic and African heritage.
In June, Morocco’s public prosecutor announced an investigation into a cyberattack targeting the website of the Supreme Council of Judicial Power. Earlier in April, the country faced what experts described as the most severe cyberattack in years, resulting in the leak of thousands of confidential documents from the Ministry of Employment and the National Social Security Fund, including salary records, bank accounts and medical insurance data.
Government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas accused at the time “hostile entities” of being behind the attack, describing it as a “criminal act.”
According to Ahmin, the success of the regulatory project depends heavily on the legal framework, which must define the roles of all stakeholders, including telecom operators, international platforms, media institutions, journalists and ordinary users. He stressed that legislation requires cooperation among official bodies, the private sector, research centers, university professors, legal experts, sociologists, psychologists and even religious scholars.
He argued that legal measures alone are insufficient and must be accompanied by awareness efforts directed at citizens, particularly by engaging with schools and universities to enhance understanding of digital practices and relevant laws. He emphasized the importance of respecting individual, public and political freedoms in any regulatory framework.
He warned against risks facing both users and the state, notably the threat to digital sovereignty posed by the dominance of major technology companies. He noted that Morocco can impose certain conditions on large digital platforms operating within its territory. However, developing countries, including Morocco, face greater challenges than European states, which have been more successful in enforcing such regulations.
He concluded that the dominance of major companies—80 percent American, 10 percent Chinese and Russian—pushes many countries to seek tools to monitor and regulate the activities of these digital giants, given their global influence.
