The Syrian Ministry of Information has made an announcement prohibiting the publication of "false news" and other "offensive" content on social media, raising concerns about freedom of expression in the country following the fall of the Assad regime.
In a video published on Friday, it announced six categories of content prohibited from publication in the media and social media , including the publication of "false news", content deemed harmful to public morals, and material relating to state secrets.
The prohibitions also include "any confidential information or documents related to the military, security or matters of state sovereignty", as well as content that "incites rioting, violence or violations of public laws".
The ministry also banned content that "includes mockery or insult of the Abrahamic religions or religious beliefs and symbols", as well as material promoting "hatred or discrimination" based on race, colour, religion, sex, or sectarian or tribal affiliation.
Other prohibited content includes violating individuals' privacy, publishing photographs or details of their family lives without consent, defamation, insults directed at individuals or institutions, and the publication of "false news, misleading content, and unverified information that could mislead public opinion".
The announcement added that the prohibition extends to "rumours that harm the national economy" and to the publication or promotion of material deemed contrary to "public morals or the moral order".
Several of the provisions, including restrictions on incitement to violence, hate speech, violations of privacy and the disclosure of military or state secrets, are broadly comparable to those found in media legislation in many countries.
However, other categories - including "false news", "misleading content", "rumours that harm the national economy" and material contrary to "public morals" - are framed in broad terms, leaving questions over how they will be interpreted and enforced and whether they will be abused.
Bassam al-Kuwatli, leader of Syria's Liberal Ahrar Party, said some of the measures reflected the country's fragile post-Assad reality, arguing that efforts to curb sectarian incitement were necessary.
"Some of those things are needed, such as stopping hate speech at this stage in Syria," he told The New Arab . "Of course, that might not be very liberal, but it's really needed at this stage to stop all the hate speech going on."
Al-Kuwatli said the concern lay less with the stated aims of the restrictions than with the ambiguity of some of the language and how it would ultimately be applied.
"The issue is the ambiguity of the definitions... we don't know how it's going to be implemented," he said.
He singled out provisions prohibiting "false news" and content deemed harmful to the national economy, asking: "Whether it's false or true, who decides it's false or true? What does it mean not to post stories which hurt the national economy? Even if they are true, can you not publish them?
Syrian writer and journalist Rime Allaf criticised the announcement, writing sarcastically on Facebook, "well that escalated quickly" and pointing out the wide range of activites banned by the ministry. "Offending public morals - who decides what they are?" she added.
The announcement comes months after the ministry suspended the work of three media outlets in Syria, citing licensing issues as well as what it described as professional and ethical violations.
The new measures have also invited comparisons with legislation enacted under former dictator Bashar al-Assad, particularly the 2022 cybercrime law, which rights groups said relied on broadly defined offences, including the spread of "false news", to prosecute critics and restrict online expression.
While the ministry's latest announcement does not establish criminal penalties comparable to those contained in the Assad-era legislation, it employs several similarly broad concepts relating to false information, public morality and national interests that free expression advocates have historically argued are open to expansive interpretation.
Similar "false news" provisions have also been criticised elsewhere in the region.
In Egypt, authorities under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi have repeatedly prosecuted journalists, bloggers and activists on charges of spreading "false news" or "false rumours", with rights groups arguing such offences have become the primary tool for restricting free expression.
Al-Kuwatli cautioned that it was still too early to judge the Syrian measures conclusively, saying their enforcement would determine whether they represented a move towards greater authoritarianism.
"Implementation will tell us whether this is another step towards authoritarianism or just to stop the [sectarian] troubles we are getting now," he said.