Algeria’s state media hits new low in anti-Morocco propaganda

Fake news and disinformation have become inherent to Algeria’s state media. On Saturday, May 17, Algerian state TV aired photos by Spanish media to portray an imaginary tunnel through which smugglers trafficked cannabis from Morocco to western Algeria.

Algerian media have for long traded ethics for propaganda as far as reporting on Morocco is concerned. The regime has instructed its mouth pieces to use fake news and disinformation to demonize Morocco at all costs.

Lacking whatsoever evidence, the Algerian TV cited what it described as “well-informed sources” to talk about an imaginary tunnel, using photos that have been taken by Spanish media showing another tunnel in Ceuta.

The images aired by Algerian TV showed a Spanish man in uniform reading “Guardia civil.”

Cases of disinformation and fake news campaigns surged after the duo Tebboune/Chengriha took power in Algeria. They took aim at Morocco to pin all Algeria’s woes, from economic crisis to social turmoil to climate change.

As the Algerian media hits the bottom and continues to dig, cases of violating journalism ethics abound.

The Algerian state news agency APS has gone as far as putting words in the mouth of foreign officials to attack Morocco. In 2024, Cyprus exposed APS lies, denying Algerian allegations of having issued arrest warrants against Moroccan officials.

In October 2021, the UN denied as false reports by Algeria’s APS that Morocco “failed” to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

A month earlier, the Geneva-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) denounced the “complete fabrication” by APS of a news report, claiming that the UN Dispute Tribunal in Geneva had rejected a complaint from Algerian activists in a record time of 24 hours.

In response, OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville lashed out at the Algerian news agency’s “false information” in a fiery statement.

“The information contained in the article, which has been widely picked up by other media in Algeria and elsewhere, is a complete fabrication from start to finish,” he said.

Blinded by Morocco-phobia, the Algerian regime’s mouthpieces continue to fabricate news on a daily basis to demonize its western neighbor. They often move from fake news to straightforward insults.