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“Hashtag” Forced to Shut Down in Biggest Media Crackdown Since the Fall of the Assad Regime
The “Hashtag” website announced that it had been forced to cease operations entirely, attributing the decision to pressure from the Ministry of Information and officials overseeing the media sector in Syria.
In an official statement, the website said that practicing independent journalism in the country had once again become fraught with risks. It stressed that protecting the safety, lives, and freedoms of journalists was more important than proving the ability to challenge an authority that still views journalism that does not conform to its narrative as a problem to be eliminated.
The statement added that the Ministry of Information and those responsible for the media portfolio had succeeded in forcing an independent Syrian media organization out of the country, describing the incident as a serious indication of the environment in which Syrian journalists operate.
The website noted that although the authorities had changed since the Assad era, the fundamental question remained. When “Hashtag” was established under the 2011 Media Law, its founders had placed their hopes in a margin of freedom that, at the time, appeared to make a different kind of Syrian journalism possible.
According to the statement, “Hashtag” chose the more difficult path, opening files that had remained outside the scope of public debate for years, including oil smuggling, the theft of telecommunications assets, corruption in the aviation sector, and other cases.
The statement said that several of the website’s staff members had received threats, in some cases amounting to death threats. These threats allegedly came from individuals with vested interests and influence, as well as from people whom “Hashtag” had confronted in the past and who later secured positions within the new political landscape.
The website also recalled a decision issued in March 2026 banning it from operating inside Syria on the grounds that it had failed to complete the required licensing procedures. “Hashtag” maintained, however, that its application file had been complete and that an administrative failure within the ministry should not be turned into an alleged violation committed by the media organization. It added that, despite the circumstances, it had continued to pursue legal channels.
The statement further said that “Hashtag” had been expected to be “cooperative” with the Ministry of Information. The resulting pressure reduced the website’s staff from 20 journalists to six volunteers who tried to keep it running. According to the statement, even those volunteers were not spared from pressure and defamation campaigns.
The incident is considered the largest of its kind in terms of restrictions on journalistic work since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024.
