Morocco lashes out after RSF's damning World Press Freedom Index rating

Morocco has lashed out on Thursday at Reporters Without Borders (RSF) after its recent damning review of press freedom conditions in the country.

Morocco fell nine places on last year in RSF's 2023 World Press Freedom Index, published earlier this week, to 144th of 180 countries. RSF said that a "powerful propaganda and disinformation machine" works to serve the Moroccan government and its allies, and that independent journalists in the country are "subjected to constant harassment".

At a press conference on Thursday, government spokesperson Mustapha Baytas accused RSF of "systematic hostility" towards Morocco.

"Reporters Without Borders has become a vehicle for a group of agendas that have nothing to do with the course of journalism in Morocco," Baytas said.

"The government gladly accepts all criticism, provided it is objective and constructive," he claimed.

RSF highlighted the cases of journalists Omar Radi and Souleiman Raissouni, who are being held arbitrarily, while the judicial harassment of other outspoken journalists continues unabated.

Last month, RSF condemned the Moroccan government’s approval of proposed legislation to replace the self-governing National Press Council, saying the move was "one more blow to press freedom" in the country.

The 2023 index concluded that press freedom was slipping around the world and that the environment for journalists was good in only three out of every ten countries. State-sponsored surveillance, censorship, and disinformation have made an already perilous environment worse for journalism.

The New Arab has reached out to RSF for a response to Baytas' comments.

Most Middle Eastern and North African countries saw a decline in press freedoms over the past year, according to RSF's index.