Incitement Campaigns Against Security Institutions: Targeting the State Amid Elite Silence

Digital Content Observatory – Fes News

Amid the escalating campaigns of incitement and defamation targeting Morocco’s security institutions via social media platforms and certain dubious media outlets, the Digital Content Observatory notes with deep concern the following:

1. These well-organized and repeated campaigns do not merely target individual security officials by name and title, but rather aim to undermine public trust in a cornerstone institution of the state—one that is fundamental to public order, citizen safety, and Morocco’s image domestically and internationally.
2. The accusations being circulated—without evidence—rely on misinformation and feed into a narrative of doubt, absent even the most basic professional or legal standards.
3. The deafening silence of much of the political and civil elite, including political parties and NGOs, can only be interpreted as tacit complicity or, at the very least, a failure of national responsibility at a time when clarity and alignment with legitimate state institutions are most needed.
4. Those who, for years, called for reform of the security apparatus and good governance of public institutions are now turning a blind eye to open attempts at intimidation and blackmail—thus missing the opportunity to defend the very path of reform, which should be based on institutional trust, not chaos.
5. Meanwhile, security services continue to fulfill their national duty by launching investigations and bringing suspects to justice, all within the framework of the law and constitutional guarantees. However, these efforts are undermined by the absence of accompanying political and media support.
6. Leaving security institutions to face such attacks alone—without political and media backing—serves neither freedom of expression nor the reform project. Rather, it transforms public discourse into a space for moral assassination and systemic delegitimization.

Therefore, the Digital Content Observatory:

• Strongly condemns the ongoing campaigns that hide behind the slogans of freedom in an attempt to undermine the pillars of the state.
• Holds political elites—government and parties alike—responsible for the rhetorical and communicative vacuum during this critical phase.
• Urges the national media and professional bodies to play their patriotic role in guiding public opinion and countering falsehoods with evidence-based information.
• Calls for the opening of a responsible public debate that distinguishes between the legitimate right to criticism and the slide into defamation, threats, and questioning the legitimacy of institutions.

The state is not only responsible for enforcing the law but also for protecting the image of its institutions against digital distortion. This responsibility is not confined to the executive branch—it also extends to the political class, media, and civil society.

There is no stability without institutions, and no institutions without collective defense when they are under attack.

Prepared in Fes,
President of the Digital Content Observatory:
Ahmed Nmitah Al-Baqali

Source: Fes News