Evolution not revolution: A longitudinal study of the role of the Internet in Morocco’s “Third Way”

Using a longitudinal approach and content analysis, this article examines the implications of the Internet and social media for collective action and democratic transition in Morocco. The article argues that the impact of the Internet and social media on Morocco’s political scene is an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary one. The new communication tools have certainly empowered oppositional groups and organisations to challenge Moroccan state’s firm grip over power and the public sphere, generating a pseudo process promising democratic transition in the country. New technologies, however, have not been a game changer as they are conditioned by and filtered through existing socio-economic and power dynamics, and the failure of political actors themselves to build a genuine agonistic public sphere built on inclusion rather than exclusion.