Type news website Political alignment Independent Ceased publication 2013 | Founded 2010 Language Arabic, French | |
Founder(s) Ali Anouzla
Aboubakr Jamaï | ||
Lakome.com was an Independent Moroccan news website. It was started in 2010 and banned in 2013.
History and profile
Lakome.com was founded in December 2010 by Ali Anouzla later joined by Aboubakr Jamaï. The site had articles in Arabic and in French. Ali Anouzla was also the editor of the English edition of the website. Aboubakr Jamaï was the editor of the French edition.
A laureate of the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award and the World Association of Newspapers' Gebran Tueni Prize, Jamaï had previously started two newspapers in Morocco, Le Journal Hebdomadaire and Assahifa al-Ousbouiya. His papers were banned by the government of Morocco on multiple occasions for their explorations of politically taboo topics, and Jamaï soon won an international reputation for independent reporting. After a series of ruinous libel suits and alleged government pressure on advertisers, however, the papers went bankrupt, with Le Journal shut down by court order in 2010.
When the Arab Spring-inspired 2011 protests broke out in Morocco, however, Jamaï began an web-based news service, Lakome.com. The site had a small staff and focuses on reporting political events throughout Morocco. By April 2011, it was the fourth-most-visited website in Morocco.
On 17 October 2013, both the Arabic and French version of the site were closed down in Morocco. As of May 2014, the website was blocked.