Reports indicate that public authorities in Morocco possess broad discretionary powers to request personal data and that there are credible allegations of government surveillance of private online communications without appropriate legal authority. According to the National Control Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP), the Moroccan data protection authority, individuals retain the right to approve or deny the processing of their personal data by both public and private entities. However, exceptions exist, such as when the processing is deemed to be in the national interest or if the party accessing the data has a “legitimate interest.” Furthermore, Morocco’s data protection law contains broadly defined terms that potentially permit authorities to access personal user data, compounded by a reported lack of transparent oversight of the intelligence services. The law's provisions on data access include “exceptions” that are reportedly open to interpretation, which may result in inconsistent legal application.

Law No. 34-05 establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. A service provider is defined, according to Part IV-bis, as an operator of facilities for online services or for access to networks with no alteration of the content between the points specified by the user and of his choice. Under Law 34-05, a service provider is not liable for information transmitted or stored on its network if it does not modify the content of the material or does not directly enjoy financial gain attributable to the activity of infringing copyright or related rights under circumstances in which it has the right and ability to control that activity. However, a service provider is expected to act without delay to withdraw the material hosted on its system or network or to restrict access to that material on becoming aware of an infringement of copyright or related rights or of facts or circumstances that indicate that copyright or related rights have been infringed, as a result of formal notice of allegations of infringement of copyright.

A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Morocco's law and jurisprudence.

Under the Telecommunications Authority (ANRT) decision of 11 February 2014 concerning the identification of mobile subscribers, purchasers of SIM cards must register their names and national identity numbers with telecommunications operators. The ANRT enforces a ban on unregistered SIM cards, reportedly in accordance with Law no. 09-08 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data.

The indicator "7.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Morocco for the year 2024. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

According to Art. 65 of Law No. 77-03, advertisements must be broadcast in Arabic, Amazigh or Moroccan dialects if they are intended for the Moroccan public. The use of other languages is, among other reasons, authorised if the communication of the said commercials in Arabic, Amazigh or Moroccan dialects proves to be difficult due to the specific technical concepts involved. It is not clear whether the law applies to online content.

The Press Code, published in August 2016, imposes licensing requirements for online media and mandates the registration of journalists. A director of an electronic media outlet is required to hold a press card, which is a form of certification that was previously not required for an online outlet. It is reported that it took seven months for directors of two French-language online news sites, Yabiladi and Le Desk, to receive their press cards in 2018.
To obtain press cards and benefit from state financial support, Arts. 34 and 35 of the Press Code require online news portals to acquire two types of authorisations from two different bodies, and are valid for one year at a time:
- authorisation from the Moroccan Cinema Center (CCM) to produce video content; and
- authorisation from the Telecommunications Authority (ANRT) to host domain names under "press.ma.".

According to Art. 15 of Law No. 77-03 on Audiovisual Communication, as amended by Law No. 66-16, audiovisual communication services include on-demand audiovisual media services. Art. 15.1 defines these services as any “communication to the public or a section thereof enabling the viewing, for a fee, of programmes or parts of programmes, at the user's choice and on demand, from a catalogue of programmes whose selection and organisation are carried out under the responsibility of the publisher of that service.” Under the amended Art. 29, the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication is empowered to grant authorisations for the operation of such on-demand audiovisual services.

According to Art. 13 of Law No. 53-05, relating to the electronic exchange of legal data, the import, export, supply, operation, or use of means or cryptographic services is subject to a prior statement and prior approval from the authority.
Moreover, pursuant to Art. 46 of Law No. 43-20 on Trusted Services for Electronic Transactions, in order to safeguard national defence and state security, the import, export and supply of cryptographic means, as well as the provision of cryptographic services, are subject to regulatory control. Specifically: (i) a prior declaration to the national authority is required where the sole purpose of such means or services is to authenticate a transmission or ensure the integrity of electronically transmitted data; and (ii) prior authorisation from the national authority is required where their purpose differs from that set out in point (i) above.

It is reported that irregularities in certain government procedures, particularly the lack of clear and accessible information on new import-related regulations and certification requirements, constitute one of the principal obstacles to operate in Morocco.

According to Art. 43 of Law No. 09-08 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data, the transfer of personal data to a foreign country is only allowed if the country offers an adequate level of protection of the privacy and fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. In the Decision No. 236-2015 of 18 December 2015, the Moroccan data protection authority (CNDP) recognised the following countries as offering an adequate level of data protection: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The transfer of personal data to a country that does not provide an adequate level of data protection is only allowed subject to certain conditions, including the express consent of the data subject or if the transfer is necessary to safeguard the data subject's life, to safeguard the public interest, to comply with judicial obligations, for the performance of a contract between the controller and the data subject or pre-contractual measures taken at the request of the latter. Personal data may also be transferred if the transfer is carried out pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement to which Morocco is a party, or with the express and reasoned authorisation of the CNDP when the personal data processing guarantees a sufficient level of protection of privacy and the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, in particular, because of the contractual clauses or internal rules to which it is subject.

Morocco has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Law No. 09-08 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and its implementation Decree No. 2-09-165 of 21 May 2009 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Morocco.

According to Art. 7 of Law No. 43-05 relating to the fight against money laundering, institutions in finance and insurance services are obliged to keep the documents relating to the transactions carried out by their clients, as well as documents relating to the identity of their customers for 10 years.

Morocco lacks a comprehensive regime for the protection of trade secrets.