Morocco’s upper house passes press council reform amid opposition walkout

Morocco’s House of Councillors on Wednesday adopted draft law No. 026.25 reorganizing the National Press Council, a move the government says will strengthen journalists’ independence and professional self regulation, but which opposition groups denounced as lacking consensus.

The bill was approved on December 24 and presented by Youth, Culture and Communication Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid as a cornerstone reform aimed at modernizing media governance and reinforcing press freedom within a constitutional framework.

Bensaid told lawmakers the reform seeks to consolidate the autonomy of the journalism profession through a clearer legal structure, including the creation of an independent supervisory commission to oversee elections of journalists and publishers, as well as a revised voting system requested by sector professionals.

“This is not a political project,” Bensaid said, arguing that the sole objective is to establish a National Press Council capable of safeguarding press freedom, ethical standards and professional independence. He added that the reform builds on lessons drawn from the first experience of professional self regulation, which exposed legal gaps and operational limits.

According to the minister, a provisional commission that succeeded the previous council spent two years assessing the state of the press sector and consulting professional bodies, before submitting its conclusions to the government within legal deadlines. He described the new framework as the “second phase” of autonomous organization, moving gradually toward full self regulation.

The bill also aims to address what Bensaid described as growing ethical challenges in the media landscape, particularly the spread of unverified information on social media, by granting the council greater capacity to manage professional affairs independently.

Opposition groups, however, sharply criticized the adoption process. Representatives from the Moroccan Labor Union, the Socialist Opposition group, the Haraki group and the Democratic Confederation of Labor withdrew collectively from the session, protesting the rejection of all their proposed amendments.

Noureddine Salik, head of the Moroccan Labor Union group, said the opposition had called for the bill to be returned to committee for further review, stressing that the demand was not confrontational but aimed at producing legislation backed by broad professional and political consensus.

Opposition lawmakers also announced plans to refer the law to the Constitutional Court, questioning the timing of its adoption while advisory bodies were still examining the text.

They argued that press reform should reflect unity within the profession and honor the historical role of journalism in Morocco’s democratic development.