The Moroccan Anti-defamation and Extortion Observatory was launched on Saturday to address issues related to defamation and extortion nationally and detect practices aiming to undermine sovereign national causes.
Karima Sellam, a lawyer at the Casablanca Bar, will lead the newly-established body.
The announcement was made during a conference in Rabat on “Defamation and Just National Causes: From Constraint to Opportunity,” organized by news website Barlamane.com. Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaïd, as well as a number of researchers, legal experts, and figures from various backgrounds were in attendance.
Sellam, head of the observatory’s preparatory committee, said the new structure will be tasked with detecting and monitoring defamation practices, extortion operations, and falsehoods aimed at undermining legitimate national causes, notably the Kingdom’s territorial integrity.
Sellam added that the Observatory seeks to counter “fake news” that could harm individuals and national institutions, and diminish Morocco’s efforts and achievements in various fields.
She highlighted the negative impact of defamation on people, especially in the digital revolution which made the virtual world easily accessible.