Latifa Akharbach, President of HACA — don't silence disinformation, defund it. Latifa Akharbach did not come to Abidjan to suggest. She came to demand. Speaking at an international conference jointly organised by the Réseau des Instances Africaines de Régulation de la Communication (RIARC) and the Réseau Francophone des Régulateurs des Médias, Morocco’s top audiovisual regulator called on major digital platforms to deprive of advertising revenue the websites, accounts and content that “thrive on disinformation, media impersonation, or other forms of information manipulation”. The weapon she prescribed is financial, not regulatory. The target is the business model of disinformation — not expression itself.
“Morocco believes that digital regulation should not hinder technological innovation”, Akharbach said. “Rather, it should strengthen transparency, the traceability of information sources, and the accountability of digital platforms”. She was equally direct about Morocco’s track record: despite being regularly targeted by large-scale disinformation campaigns, the Kingdom has consistently respected internet freedom. The position is one of principle, not convenience.
“Platforms possess the technical means necessary to identify and deprive of advertising revenue the websites, accounts, and content that thrive on disinformation.”. — Latifa Akharbach, President of HACA · Abidjan, 2 June 2026
Akharbach’s argument rests on a precise diagnosis: the lack of transparency about the origin of online content is not merely a technical gap — it is a direct threat to citizens’ freedom of choice and their right to reliable information. Platforms, she argued, already have the means to act. The question is not capability. It is accountability.
Two fronts, one principle
Akharbach framed the current challenge as operating simultaneously on two fronts. The first is the traditional relationship between the state, the media and citizens — where media regulation has long established its legitimacy. The second — newer and more complex — is the digital infrastructure itself: the algorithms, platforms and revenue models that now shape access to information and influence public debate on a scale no state broadcaster ever could.
For HACA, demonetisation is the tool that resolves the tension between these two fronts. It targets the economic incentive that makes disinformation profitable — without requiring suppression of content, restriction of expression, or state intervention in editorial decisions. Morocco’s position, as articulated by Akharbach in Abidjan, is unambiguous: an open digital space built on freedom, innovation and free-market principles — with platforms held accountable for what their advertising models choose to fund.
- Source: MAP