Internet & Online Safety · Syria
Online safety & content laws in Syria (2026)
Syria shaded by its internet & online safety status
Syria has historically been one of the world's most heavily censored internet environments (DPI/Blue Coat filtering, 200+ blocked sites, the repressive 2022 Cybercrime Law). After the Assad regime fell on 8 December 2024, the transitional government under Ahmed al-Sharaa unblocked many sites and lifted some app restrictions, but the core repressive apparatus persists: the 2022 Cybercrime Law remains in force, the Ministry of Information requires licensing of digital/social-media platforms under vague 'indecent content' and 'national constants' clauses, and nationwide exam-period internet shutdowns continued in 2025. There is no DSA/OSA-style comprehensive online-safety regime and no formal age-verification framework.
Key points
Law No. 20 of 2022 criminalizes online defamation, 'crimes against decency,' and 'undermining the prestige of the state,' with penalties up to 15 years and fines to 15 million SYP, and obliges ISPs/hosts to retain and surrender user data. It has not been repealed; reform is discussed but no committee or amendment had been enacted as of 2025-2026.
After December 2024 the new Communications Ministry unblocked websites banned by the former regime and in April 2025 lifted restrictions on electronic/messaging applications, ending the prior centralized surveillance-and-filtering posture.
The Ministry of Information requires digital and social-media platforms to obtain prior licenses; it suspended/banned outlets such as 'Hashtag,' 'Jusoor News' and 'Al-Daleel' in March 2026 and cancelled licenses of non-renewing outlets in April 2026, invoking the Media Law and vague 'indecent content'/'offending national constants' grounds criticized as arbitrary.
Syria has imposed annual high-school-exam internet/mobile blackouts since 2016; these continued after the regime fell, with mobile shutdowns measured on 29 June 2025 and again 7-10 July 2025, alongside disruptions officially blamed on fiber 'sabotage.'
Under the 2022 Cybercrime Law, ISPs, telecom operators and web-hosting providers must retain user data and hand it to authorities on request, creating intermediary obligations geared to surveillance and enforcement rather than user safety.
Syria has no DSA/OSA-equivalent platform-safety law and no formal online age-verification framework; international monitors continue to rate it as 'not free,' and rebuilding a rights-respecting framework remains a transitional-phase challenge.
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