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The Superior Council for Audiovisual Communications (CSCA) has suspended the Moroccan radio program “Bismilah Ouraqik,” broadcast by Moroccan radio channel MFM, after complaints of “charlatanism.”
The Moroccan Federation for Consumer Rights made a complaint to CSCA about the program for promoting charlatanism and exploiting listeners in a way that could put their health in jeopardy.
During May, the radio program gave listeners “cures” to a number of health ailments including “sterility,” “mental health problems,” “food poisoning,” “hemorrhages,” and “colon problems.”
As an example, on March 12, the program told listeners that “for women who have problems with bleeding or lethargy […] drink a mixture of orange blossom water and home-made vinegar, as well as Roqya (blessed water).”
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The program also gave “cures” to some listeners who shared their health issues with the radio station by SMS and telephone.
To get rid of djinns (evil spirits), the program suggested drinking rose water and olive oil and eating nigella seeds, either before breakfast or after dinner.
In its decision published on May 23, the regulator CSCA found that the radio program’s content was inciting listeners to adopt health practices that could be dangerous to their health. As a result, the CSCA suspended the program for one week.
The regulator expressed concern that the radio program was “normalizing” non-medical treatment in a way that could lead listeners to neglect professional medical advice.
CSCA had issued a warning to MFM radio channel on January 9, about previous episodes on similar topics.
