Online safety & content laws in Algeria (2026)
Online safety rules in Algeria: heavy restriction.
Algeria operates a multi-layered restrictive internet regime combining enacted laws that broadly criminalise online content deemed threatening to national security or public order with active administrative practices of website blocking and periodic internet shutdowns. The 2023-2024 media law package extended state regulatory authority to digital platforms, mandated data localisation, and empowered authorities to suspend online publications for up to 30 days. Systematic internet disruptions during national exams and the blocking of independent news outlets underscore the state's direct control over the online information environment.
Legal framework
Law No. 09-04 (2009) on ICT Crimes; Organic Law on Information (2023); Law on Audiovisual Activity (2024); Law on Written and Electronic Press (2024); ARPT (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority); National Authority for Prevention and Combating ICT Crimes (Decree 21-439/2021)
Key points: internet & online safety in Algeria
2023-2024 Media Law Package
Algeria enacted three interlinked laws in 2023-2024: the Organic Law on Information, the Law on Written and Electronic Press (in force June 2024), and the Law on Audiovisual Activity (in force December 2024). Together they extend state regulatory authority over digital platforms, prohibit content undermining national defence, territorial integrity, or public morality, and allow the Written and Electronic Press Regulatory Authority to suspend websites or publications for up to 30 days.
Data Localisation & Platform Requirements
The 2024 Audiovisual Activity Law requires online audiovisual services to host content exclusively on servers physically located in Algeria and use the national '.dz' domain. It also establishes a 60% local content quota for digital platforms and extends the Audiovisual Regulatory Authority's jurisdiction to content distributed via digital channels.
Cybercrime & Surveillance Law (Law 09-04)
Law No. 09-04 of 5 August 2009 on the Prevention and Combating of ICT Crimes (Official Gazette No. 47) authorises electronic surveillance of communications to detect terrorism, subversive activities, or threats to state security. Decree 21-439 (November 2021) reorganised the National Authority for Prevention and Combating ICT Crimes, reinforcing its preventive surveillance mandate.
Internet Shutdowns
Algeria systematically shuts down the internet and blocks social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter/X, WhatsApp) during national high-school diploma examinations each year to prevent cheating. Broader shutdowns have also occurred during political protests. These practices are documented by Internet Society Pulse and Access Now's #KeepItOn campaign.
Website Blocking of Independent Media
Algerian authorities have blocked multiple independent news websites without judicial order, including TSA (Tout Sur l'Algérie, blocked since 2017), Radio M, Maghreb Emergent, Interlignes, and Casbah Tribune. RSF has documented ongoing access restrictions to these outlets.
Proposed Platform Accountability Law (2025)
A draft law circulated in 2025 would require major foreign platforms to establish local legal entities in Algeria, store user data locally, and remove illegal content within 24 hours, modelled loosely on the EU DSA and Australia's Online Safety Act. It had not been enacted as of May 2026.
Timeline of decisions
- LawLaw on Audiovisual Activity Enters into Force, Mandatory Data Localisation
Algeria's Law on Audiovisual Activity came into force requiring online audiovisual services to host all content exclusively on servers physically located in Algeria and to use the national .dz domain, imposing binding data-localisation obligations on streaming and digital media providers.
Digital Policy Alert
- IncidentRecurring Annual Baccalaureate Exam Internet Shutdowns (2024 Edition)
Authorities imposed daily multi-hour internet and social-media disruptions (June 9-13) during national baccalaureate examinations, a practice established after mass answer-leaking in 2016, documenting a pattern of state-directed content blocking estimated to cost businesses ~500 million DZD per shutdown hour.
Internet Society Pulse
- LawOrganic Law on Information, Foundational Online Content Restrictions
Algeria's Organic Law on Information criminalises online content deemed contrary to Islam, national identity, or territorial unity; bars dual-nationality Algerians from owning media shares; and creates a president-appointed High Council of Ethics for journalism, ARTICLE 19 and MENA Rights Group condemned the law as violating international freedom-of-expression standards.
ARTICLE 19
- LawPenal Code Amendments Extend Criminal Liability to Online Speech and ICT-Aided Terrorism
President Bouteflika signed amendments criminalising use of ICT in terrorist recruitment, requiring ISPs to store and surrender user data, and expanding prosecution of online speech deemed offensive to state officials or religion, provisions subsequently deployed against bloggers, activists, and social-media users.
ARTICLE 19
- Law · officialLaw No. 09-04, Foundational Cybercrime Statute Enacted
Algeria's first dedicated cybercrime law criminalised hacking, data theft, online terrorism incitement, blackmail, and ICT-facilitated copyright infringement; authorised electronic surveillance with judicial oversight; and established a national cybercrime prevention body, remaining the core criminal framework for internet offences for over a decade.
WIPO Lex
- LawMinisterial Decree No. 98-257, ISPs Required to Surveil and Block Hosted Content
Article 14 of Decree 98-257 made internet service providers legally liable for hosted sites and required them to take 'all necessary steps' for 'constant surveillance' to block material contrary to public order and morality, Algeria's earliest internet content-control measure, predating the broadband era and establishing the ISP-liability model still reflected in later statutes.
OpenNet Initiative
Sources
- wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/14778
- digitalpolicyalert.org/digest/dpa-digital-digest-algeria
- digitalpolicyalert.org/event/28489-law-no-09-04-setting-out-specific-rules-for-the-preventio
- smex.org/algeria-new-media-law-tightens-restrictions-on-online-content/
- menarights.org/en/articles/algeria-new-media-laws-are-setback-freedom-expression
- article19.org/resources/algeria-mitigate-human-rights-threats-of-new-media-laws/
- rsf.org/en/algeria-blocks-access-three-more-news-sites
- pulse.internetsociety.org/en/shutdowns/algeria-third-day-of-exam-shutdowns/
- accessnow.org/internet-shutdowns-in-algeria-and-sudan-damaging-practices-during-exc
- cms.law/en/int/expert-guides/cms-expert-guide-to-data-protection-and-cyber-se
Next for Algeria: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026