April 26, 2018
On April 25, 2018, The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released the World Press Freedom Index 2018, reflecting growing animosity towards journalists. The report is published annually by the RSF since 2002, it measures the level of media freedom in 180 countries across the globe.
Morocco’s rank dropped down to 135th this year from 136th in 2017, two points below the previous year. The report blames Morocco authorities for obstructing the national and foreign media that tried to cover the so-called Hirak protests in northern Morocco’s Rif region. Prosecutions were brought against both professional and citizen-journalists, with several currently imprisoned and courts imposing jail terms and fines. Several foreign reporters were expelled.
Aside from the trials in recent years against a number of media figures, 2017 saw a great deal of additional judicial harassment of journalists in Morocco, RSF added.
