Shafaq News– BaghdadIraq’s rapidly expanding digital content sectoroperates largely without regulation, allowing significant online revenues tomove outside state oversight and increasing financial risk, a member of theDijlah Center for Strategic Planning warned.Speaking to Shafaq News on Sunday, Ali Karim Idhayib notedthat the spread of social media, especially live streaming and paid content, hascreated parallel cash flows beyond existing controls, cautioning that theabsence of clear rules on income disclosure, taxation, and supervision leavesthe sector vulnerable to misuse, including tax evasion and the movement offunds with unclear origins under media or entertainment labels.According to Chatham House, a London-based policyinstitute, Iraq’s digital economy is expanding faster than the state’s abilityto monitor it, driven by a surge in online retail, ride-hailing platforms, andcontent monetization over the past five years. While these sectors have become akey opportunity for Iraq’s youth, who make up more than 60% of the populationand face unemployment exceeding 35%, the think tank noted that weakinfrastructure, unstable regulations, limited financing, and fragmentedoversight are major constraints.“The challenge is not technology itself, but how it ismanaged,” Idhayib stressed, pointing to international models that requiretransparency, integrate digital earnings into tax systems, and coordinate withmajor platforms. Iraq, he added, needs a similar framework adapted to localconditions. He called for a national effort involving stateinstitutions, economists, and communications regulators to align regulationwith the pace of digital growth.: Iraq’s Gen Z: Caught between a digital future and fragile realities