Public authorities are reportedly planning to regulate electronic news media in Algeria. A communiqué released by the President’s office states that “Yesterday, Abdelmadjid Tebboune”, the newly elected President of Algeria, “instructed the Prime Minister to proceed with the regulation of the legal situation of electronic newspapers domiciled in Algeria”.





El Watan reports that over the past dozen years the electronic news media in Algeria has seen strong development in an incomplete regulatory framework. In order to deal with this phenomenon, the organic law n°12-05 of the 12th of January 2012 was introduced. This relates to the information dealt with by the electronic media, and sought mainly to provide legal definitions.





For example, Article 67 stipulates that “the term ‘electronic press’ within the meaning of this organic law, means any online written communication service intended for the public or a category of the public, published on a professional basis by a natural person or legal entity governed by Algerian law who has control over the editorial line of its content".





However, this was not followed by the necessary implementing legislation. This means that the electronic media is recognised, but as of yet there exists no legal text actually governing or regulating the activities of the online press in Algeria. The groundwork for such legislation has been laid, but the process has not been completed.





This had a significant effect on the Algerian electronic press at a time when, throughout the world, online news media has taken on an increasingly important role, often competing with traditional newspapers and forcing these newspapers to also maintain an online presence.

Since the regulatory framework was insufficient, Algerian online news sources could not (were not allowed to) cover official or governmental activities in the country, and could not benefit from state advertising.





Reportedly, this is the issue that the authorities wish to solve by regulating the electronic press. The Presidential communiqué goes on to state that “these media will be treated as equal to the national print media regarding coverage of national and official activities and access to public advertising. To do this, they must operate under the same strict framework of the law and professional ethics”.





However, the Presidency made no mention in its communiqué of some of the central aspects of the information sector, such as freedom of expression, free access to information, and dismantling the monopoly of state advertising – which is still regarded as a means of exerting pressure on the Algerian media. In addition, since the beginning of the Hirak movement, also known as the 2019-20 Algerian Protests in February 2019, many online news sources have been completely inaccessible from inside Algeria.





Their owners and content managers have called this an act of censorship. The authorities have never taken a position on the matter. Even today, some of them can only be accessed via a VPN.









According to freedomhouse.org , the Algerian press is categorised as “Not free” due to censorship, government control of regulatory bodies, and the prosecution of critical journalists under restrictive laws such as blasphemy.









News source: El Watan , Le Courrier d’Algérie

Source language : French