News

This is part three in a series of detailed legal reports and analyses on existing legal amendments, and new legislation affecting privacy, freedom of expression, media, and online rights in Azerbaijan and their compliance with international standards for freedom of expression.   In July, of last year, authorities in Azerbaijan released their very own COVID tracing […]

Rufat Safarov, who heads the Defense Line, an Azerbaijani non-governmental organization said he received death threats from Nasir Asgarov on Facebook, Meydan TV reports. According to Meydan TV, Savarov received a message from Asgarov on Facebook asking him for his phone number and demanding to meet. When Safarov declined the request, Asgarov sent death threats […]

In recent years, as social media platforms gained popularity among Azerbaijani users to express concern and criticize the ruling authorities, the government officials were quick to react. At several meetings of the national parliament, members voiced opinions about the need to control social media platforms. In May the discussions were back on the table. According […]

On May 12, Amnesty International released a statement calling to stop gender-based reprisals in Azerbaijan.  “Women human rights defenders have faced threats, coercion, violations of their right to privacy and smear campaigns that are gender-specific and target them as women. This type of gender-based violence and discrimination aims to silence their critical voices and discredit […]

[Update] The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior Ehsan Zahidov said following the investigation, all men identified in the video were arrested and questioned. The men were family members of the soldier mentioned in the original tweet.  In Azerbaijan, a man was beaten over a social media post that was not even his. On […]

A resident of Gushchu village of Shamakhi administrative district in Azerbaijan was taken to the police, beaten, and handed ten-day administrative detention after posting a TikTok video, according to Meydan TV.  In an interview with Meydan TV, Akif Niftaliyev said he mentioned the local police officers, coming in for a raid and collecting bribes. “I […]

According to latest measurements carried out by OONI, access to a number of key news sites remains blocked in Azerbaijan.  In its latest report that covers the period from January through April, OONI concludes, there is “a strong signal that specific censorship techniques are adopted to block access to these specific media websites.” One noteworthy […]

[Update] According to OC Media, Gurbanov was relocated to a prison, which the lawyer says, is in breach of the law. Speaking to OC Media, lawyer Fariz Namazli said, the relocation was illegal as the defendant is awaiting the result of an appeal case. “This [the decision to relocate Gurbanov] was explained to me by […]

Vafa Nagi, an activist who recently exposed systemic abuse of young girls in one region of Azerbaijan has herself become a target of harassment as a result.  Writing about the harassment on her Facebook account, Nagi explained that ever since she shared the story of a 14-year-old  girl, a resident of a small village subject […]

This month, a series of articles published by The Guardian newspaper revealed how leaders across the world, used Facebook loopholes to harass their critics at home. And how despite having information about these violations, the platform lets these cases sit sometimes for months on end if not more, instead choosing to deal with more high […]