In order to promote the “Forssa” government initiative, Morocco’s Tourism Ministry has invited dozens of Instagram “influencers” during the launch ceremony, which created a heated debate and received a wave of criticism on social media.
A number of journalists and activists described the ministry’s decision as “unsound and far from governmental and institutional communications’ methods,” saying it “demonstrates a marginalization of the media and journalists’ role in informing the public.”
On the other hand, Government Spokesperson Mustapha Baitas explained the ministry’s invitation saying, “Forssa targets entrepreneurs with business ideas, aged between 18 and 35, and most of this target audience uses social media.”
“The allocated budget for marketing the Forssa program was not made arbitrarily, but rather based on several studies,” he added yesterday, during a press conference subsequent to this week’s government council.
Mohamed El Azhari, a Political Science professor at Hassan II University, argued that “depending on Instagram influencers to promote major governmental programs is really absurd and senseless, since most of them publish content about cooking, make up, advertising, jokes, or memes.”
“Morocco’s Tourism Ministry has put forward individuals without any intellectual knowledge as a role model for young people, which is very dangerous,” El Azhari noted in a statement to Hespress EN, saying that the government’s turn to these “influencers” instead of other credible institutions and news organizations is a “big mistake”.
El Azhari further stressed that the Moroccan government could have relied on media companies to communicate with citizens and thus promoting the program, and described journalists as “strategic partners” due to their jobs of informing Moroccans about various government’s programs and policies.
“An influencer and a journalist are two different things. A journalist’s aim is to find the truth. The influencer’s goal, on the other hand, is to advocate for a brand, because they make their money from advertising products, which means that they only care about profit,” he concluded.
The state-backed program aims to encourage entrepreneurial projects and create job opportunities, through training and securing fundings. “Forssa” further vows to support entrepreneurs in Morocco by providing up to MAD 100,000 at zero interest rates.
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