Shafaq News- Baghdad

More than 20 Iraqi newspapers could shut down after a government decision to restrict official advertisements and tenders to a unified electronic platform, Al-Nakhil Center for Press Rights and Freedoms warned on Monday.

The center noted that several print outlets already face financial difficulties and depend heavily on revenue from official advertisements and tenders.

While supporting broader digital transformation, the center urged authorities to safeguard the sustainability of print media, saying they remain an important part of Iraq's media heritage and continue to serve many people, particularly older citizens who are unfamiliar with modern technologies and rely on newspapers for news and information. It added that depriving print publication of advertising revenue could force them to close, lead to job losses among journalists and media workers, and deny large segments of the population access to reliable information, pushing them toward alternative sources that may not provide accurate news.

Iraq ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in the 2026 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. In 2025, the Journalists' Rights Defense Association recorded 182 violations against journalists across the country, while the Metro Center for Journalists' Rights documented 315 violations in the Kurdistan Region, nearly double the previous year's total.

Read more: Iraq's press freedom index falls amid record violations