Bensaid Aims to Regulate Social Media to Strengthen Digital Sovereignty and Protect Minors
The Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mehdi Bensaid, announced a governmental initiative to create a comprehensive law aimed at regulating the digital space, including platforms and social media. He emphasized the necessity of achieving a delicate balance between freedom of expression and the protection of society and vulnerable groups.
This announcement came in response to a written question from the Movement Group in the House of Representatives regarding “protecting children from harmful digital content.” Bensaid explained that the ministry is considering drafting a law that would serve as a code for audiovisual communication, in line with the rapid technological changes witnessed worldwide over the past two decades.
The minister asserted that the ultimate goal of this project is to establish Morocco’s digital sovereignty by eliminating the current legislative vacuum that foreign digital platforms exploit beyond national oversight. Bensaid confirmed that the new law would ensure a safe, transparent, and fair digital environment that preserves freedom of expression while simultaneously protecting children and youth.
Bensaid summarized the motivations for this regulation by highlighting the increasing risks posed by the significant digital transformation and the emergence of an open digital space intersecting expression with serious challenges, especially for children and young people. He pointed out that, despite the positive opportunities these platforms provide for learning, they have contributed to the rise of numerous negative phenomena, such as the spread of violent content, behavioral deviations, hate speech, fake news, alongside inappropriate advertisements for certain demographics, and threats related to digital privacy and excessive commercial exploitation.
According to the written response, the project’s objective is to organize the digital space through precise provisions that impose clear responsibilities on digital platforms and enhance self-regulation and institutional oversight mechanisms. In this way, the Moroccan government seeks to create an inclusive legal framework that ensures the protection of societal values and vulnerable groups while maintaining fundamental freedom of expression.
