Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s rapidly expanding digital content sector operates largely without regulation, allowing significant online revenues to move outside state oversight and increasing financial risk, a member of the Dijlah Center for Strategic Planning warned.

Speaking to Shafaq News on Sunday, Ali Karim Idhayib noted that the spread of social media, especially live streaming and paid content, has created parallel cash flows beyond existing controls, cautioning that the absence of clear rules on income disclosure, taxation, and supervision leaves the sector vulnerable to misuse, including tax evasion and the movement of funds with unclear origins under media or entertainment labels.

According to Chatham House, a London-based policy institute, Iraq’s digital economy is expanding faster than the state’s ability to monitor it, driven by a surge in online retail, ride-hailing platforms, and content monetization over the past five years. While these sectors have become a key opportunity for Iraq’s youth, who make up more than 60% of the population and face unemployment exceeding 35%, the think tank noted that weak infrastructure, unstable regulations, limited financing, and fragmented oversight are major constraints.

“The challenge is not technology itself, but how it is managed,” Idhayib stressed, pointing to international models that require transparency, integrate digital earnings into tax systems, and coordinate with major platforms. Iraq, he added, needs a similar framework adapted to local conditions.

He called for a national effort involving state institutions, economists, and communications regulators to align regulation with the pace of digital growth.

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