Rabat – Morocco’s House of Representatives approved on Monday evening Draft Law No. 09.26, which reorganizes the National Press Council (CNP), in a vote that reflected a clear split between supporters of the reform and its critics. The text passed with 70 votes in favor and 25 against.
Presented by Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, the reform seeks to reset the legal framework governing press self-regulation. Bensaid told lawmakers that the law marks a key moment in the broader effort to modernize the media sector and strengthen governance standards, including transparency and accountability.
The initiative draws on an assessment of Morocco’s first experience with professional self-regulation in journalism, he said, noting that this experience helped structure the sector but also revealed legal gaps and operational weaknesses, alongside repeated demands from journalists for clearer rules.
At the center of the new law lies an attempt to reconcile two pressures that often sit in tension. The first is the protection of press freedom as a constitutional right, and the second is the need to enforce professional ethics and regulatory discipline. The minister argued that the revised framework is designed to restore this balance while reinforcing the CNP’s institutional role.
The text introduces adjustments to address legal ambiguities identified in the previous model. It also establishes a commission to oversee electoral and appointment procedures within the Council. The government presents this mechanism as a safeguard for transparency and procedural fairness.
Bensaid added that the reform responds to a changing media environment, in which digital platforms have expanded rapidly, and concerns about misinformation and unethical practices have grown. In his view, the CNP must now operate with greater autonomy and clearer authority to respond to these shifts.
Majority parties in parliament welcomed the revised bill, particularly the amendments that aligned it with observations issued by the Constitutional Court in decision No. 261/26. They pointed to clearer governance rules and a more defined institutional structure for the Council.
They also stressed that press self-regulation cannot rely solely on institutional independence. Instead, they argued that it must rest on balanced representation across the profession to avoid the concentration of influence within specific groups.
Opposition says reform falls short
For the majority, the success of the reform will depend less on its legal wording and more on how it functions in practice. They emphasized the need for the Council to operate effectively while maintaining a balance between professional autonomy and ethical oversight.
But opposition groups took a more critical stance. They argued that the revised law leaves intact core structural problems identified in earlier versions and does not fully respond to the Constitutional Court’s guidance. For them, the reform remains incomplete and insufficiently grounded in consensus.
They also criticized what they described as a lack of deep restructuring, saying the new version introduces partial adjustments rather than a comprehensive redesign of the self-regulatory model. In their view, this limits the possibility of building a genuinely independent and pluralistic institution.
One of the most contested points remains the use of turnover as a criterion for publisher representation. Opposition lawmakers argued that this approach risks favoring larger economic actors and introducing a financial hierarchy into representation within the Council.
They also questioned the hybrid system that combines elections and appointments, warning that it could lead to an imbalance in representation across the sector.
Opposition groups concluded by urging the government to broaden its consultations with journalists and other professional stakeholders. They called for a more inclusive process capable of producing a press council with greater legitimacy, greater independence, and greater professional trust.
