For the latest edition of Reporters Without Borders annual report, 2017 saw a great deal of additional judicial harassment of journalists in Morocco. The latter's performance declined when compared to previous years. Morocco has fallen in the ranking provided by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a France-based NGO that defends and promotes freedom of information and press. In its 2018 edition published Wednesday, 25th of April, and entitled «Hatred of Journalism Threatens Democracies», the Kingdom is positioned 135th among 180 nations. Morocco lost two places when compared to 2017 when it was ranked 133rd. Its global score, as well, worsened moving from 42.42 points in 2017 to 43.13 in 2018. Moreover, the Kingdom's abuse score has reached 27.10. In North Africa, Morocco is positioned 4th, behind Mauritania 72nd, and Tunisia 97th and ahead of Algeria 136th, Egypt 161st and Libya 162nd. Mauritania and with a score limited to 29.09 has managed to top the MENA region's list leaving other neighboring countries behind. Morocco is almost at the bottom of the ranking when compared to other Arab nations such as Lebanon 100, Kuwait 105th, Qatar 125th, Oman 127th, UAE 128th, Jordan 132nd and Palestine 134th. Judicial harassment of journalists In a note published with the annual report, Reporters Without Borders insisted that «aside from the trials in recent years against a number of media figures, 2017 saw a great deal of additional judicial harassment of journalists in Morocco». The report suggests that Moroccan authorities have deliberately blocked national and foreign media trying to cover Hirak protests in the Rif region. Moreover, it pointed at the prosecutions «brought against both professional and citizen-journalists, with several currently imprisoned and courts imposing jail terms and fines». Although the index says that several foreign reporters were expelled from Morocco, it acknowledges that in 2018 no journalist has been killed while on duty. In its global observation, the 2018 edition of Reporters Without Borders report suggests that there is a growing trend of animosity towards journalists, stressing that hostility towards the media is no longer limited to authoritarian countries. The survey also indicates that the Middle East and North Africa region has registered the biggest decline in Media freedom this year. For the record, the ranking was topped by Norway 1st followed by Sweden 2nd, the Netherlands 3rd, Finland 4th and Switzerland 5th. Meanwhile, China 176th, Syria 177th, Turkmenistan 178th, Eritrea 179th and North Korea 180th were in the bottom of the list.
