Syria’s transitional government has warned against spreading media that exacerbates division and discrimination among the country’s various ethnic groups and minorities.
“In order to strengthen national unity and preserve the Syrian fabric with all its components,” it is forbidden to disseminate content of a “sectarian nature,” the interior ministry announced.
This refers to content that intensifies divisions, prejudices or conflicts between different groups, often based on religion, ethnicity or political beliefs.
It is not clear what measures the new leadership will use to check and enforce the ban.
On Tuesday, protests broke out in Syria after a video began circulating online that allegedly showed the desecration of an Alawite shrine in the northern city of Aleppo.
According to the new leadership in Damascus, the “old video” was deliberately posted on the internet by unknown groups to incite unrest.