Categories: MobileSocial Media

7 Moroccan journalists on trial for advocating citizen journalism via smartphones

Seven journalists in Morocco are on trial today for training civilians to use a foreign-funded smartphone app for citizen journalism.

The journalists stand accused of “undermining state security” and “failing to report foreign funding,” according to Tuesday’s Amnesty International report.

The foreign-funded citizen journalism app in question, StoryMaker, is part of a project funded by the Dutch NGO, Free Press Unlimited.

StoryMaker “is an open source app that enables journalists to publish professional-grade news content including graphics using their phones.”

“Helping Moroccans harness smartphone technology to report on what is going on in the country is not a crime, and it is outrageous that it is being treated as a state security offence,” said Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, Said Boumedouha.

The arrests follow a series of legal crackdowns on journalists beginning last year when in March, the project manager for the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism was jailed 10 months on an alleged trumped-up adultery charge.

The project manager was investigating the Moroccan authorities’ alleged surveillance of activists and journalists at the time of his arrest.

Another journalist was jailed and fined for reporting on the death of a political activist while it was revealed that the Moroccan authorities spent over $3 million on surveillance software between 2009 and 2012.

Since 2006, the Moroccan Monarchy under King Mohammed VI has been routinely targeting journalists and activists who criticize the crown just as his father routinely “stifled public discourse and tortured opponents for decades” under his own rule.

Tim Hinchliffe

The Sociable editor Tim Hinchliffe covers tech and society, with perspectives on public and private policies proposed by governments, unelected globalists, think tanks, big tech companies, defense departments, and intelligence agencies. Previously, Tim was a reporter for the Ghanaian Chronicle in West Africa and an editor at Colombia Reports in South America. These days, he is only responsible for articles he writes and publishes in his own name. tim@sociable.co

View Comments

Recent Posts

AI and the Dopamine Trap: How Algorithms Are Rewiring Our Social Cravings

New research shows AI companions can lift mood and teach social skills, but only when…

3 days ago

Hate speech, deepfakes & false info undermine UN work: comms chief

Hate speech is a launching point for crackdowns on narratives that impede UN agendas: perspective…

3 days ago

Making Sense brings strategic insight to the SIM Hartford Chapter

On June 4, technology executives gathered at the SIM Hartford chapter presided over by Fariba…

5 days ago

‘Digital disinformation undermines trust in climate & health authorities’: WHO Pan European Commission on Climate & Health

The PECCH is an attempt to persuade us into believing that climate & health policies…

1 week ago

WEF ‘Summer Davos’ in China to tackle transhumanism, AI & One Health agendas

The program agenda for the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 16th Annual Meeting of the New…

1 week ago

10 design and architecture writers to put on your radar this year

It’s easy to get caught up in the visuals—perfectly styled rooms, dramatic before-and-afters, bold architectural…

2 weeks ago