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Telecommunications in Western Sahara

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Telecommunications in Western Sahara include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Morocco claims the Western Sahara territory and administers Moroccan law through Moroccan institutions in the estimated 85 percent of the territory it occupies. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario), an organization that has sought independence for the former Spanish territory since 1973, disputes Morocco's claim to sovereignty over the territory.[1] Because of this long running dispute, many traditional telecommunication statistics are not reported separately for the Western Sahara.[2]

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Radio and television

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Telephones

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Internet

Internet censorship and surveillance

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There is no indication that Internet access in the territory differs from that in internationally recognized Morocco, which was generally open.[1] Morocco was listed as engaged in selective Internet filtering in the social, conflict/security, and Internet tools areas and as little or no evidence of filtering in the political area by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) in August 2009.[13] Freedom House listed Morocco's "Internet Freedom Status" as "Partly Free" in its 2013 Freedom on the Net report.[14]

Morocco considers the part of the territory that it occupies to be an integral component of the kingdom with the same laws and structures regarding civil liberties, political, and economic rights. Moroccan law prohibits citizens from criticizing Islam or the institution of the monarchy or to oppose the government's official position regarding territorial integrity and Western Sahara. Saharan media outlets and bloggers practice self-censorship on these issues, and there are no reports of government action against them for what they write. Human rights and Sahrawi bloggers affiliated with leftist political groups assume that authorities closely monitor their activities and feel the need to hide their identities.[1]

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References

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