Loi n° 88-13 relative à la presse et à l'édition (Law No. 88-13 on the Press and Publishing) (Morocco)

Law No. 88-13 on the Press and Publishing, promulgated by Dahir No. 1-16-122 of 10 August 2016 and published in the Bulletin Officiel, is the central statute of Morocco's 2016 Press and Publishing Code, adopted together with Law No. 89-13 on the status of professional journalists and Law No. 90-13 establishing the National Press Council (Conseil National de la Presse, CNP). It is the principal instrument regulating both the print and the electronic press in Morocco and is the key content-restriction law shaping online expression beyond the cybercrime framework. Its most-praised feature is the removal of custodial penalties for most press offences, replacing imprisonment with fines and ancillary measures; criticism, however, focuses on its extension of regulatory control to online media and on the persistence of content 'red lines'. The Code expressly brings electronic newspapers (presse électronique) within its scope, requiring online publications to be declared and to operate under a director of publication who must hold defined academic or professional qualifications, and subjecting audiovisual output by electronic publications to permit requirements. Publications more than one-third foreign-owned require prior authorisation. Substantively, the Code retains prohibitions on content deemed to harm Islam, the monarchy, national territorial integrity (the Western Sahara question) and public order, enforceable through fines and judicial suspension or blocking of publications, including online outlets. In practice the Code has been used as the basis for administrative pressure on unregistered websites, the authorities reported around 1,000 sites suspended in 2019 in connection with its registration requirements. Oversight is shared between the ordinary courts (which alone may impose the Code's restrictive measures) and the CNP, a professional self-regulatory body whose mandate and independence have themselves been contested. Importantly, the Code does not displace the Penal Code: journalists and online commentators continue to be prosecuted and imprisoned under separate Penal Code provisions (for example on offending public officials or spreading 'false news'), so the headline abolition of press-related prison terms is incomplete. Original language: French/Arabic.

1. 1Brings the electronic press (presse électronique) expressly within the press-regulation regime, requiring declaration of online newspapers and a qualified director of publication
2. 2Retains content 'red lines', prohibitions on harming Islam, the monarchy, territorial integrity and public order, enforceable against online and print outlets
3. 3Replaces imprisonment with fines and ancillary penalties for most press offences, but related custodial offences remain in the Penal Code
4. 4Authorises judicial suspension and blocking of publications, including websites; cited as the basis for the 2019 suspension of around 1,000 sites
5. 5Requires prior authorisation for publications more than one-third foreign-owned, and permits for audiovisual content by electronic publications
6. 6Oversight split between the ordinary courts (sole authority to impose restrictive measures) and the self-regulatory National Press Council (CNP)
7. 7Operates alongside Law 09-08 (data protection) and Law 07-03 (cybercrime); provides no standalone surveillance regime