The wave of Arab Spring that started in Tunisia and Egypt arrived to Morocco in 2011 paving the way to unprecedented organized mass-protests all over the country. Among the demands raised by the 20 February Movement protesters was the demand for free and independent media outlets, especially the press.
In this short article, the Moroccan independent press status will be contextualized and discussed after the “Moroccan Spring” with an attempt to show, through cases of imprisoned journalists, the contradictions associated with the liberalization of speech in Morocco. One of the main arguments of the article is that the democratization of the press could never be achieved as long as the public discourse that brings monarchical powers and actions into question is illegal.