News

In Azerbaijan, a group of activists was targeted online following a non-violent march organized to mark International Women’s Day. The protest was violently dispersed by the police. Those detained were released after questioning. Last year, a similar attempt was quashed by the police. In October 2019, in an attempt to call on the authorities to […]

On March 2, several Facebook pages affiliated with an online news website anews.az were hacked. According to the editor of anews.az Naila Balayeva the hacking came shortly after anews.az published two different stories, on February 27 and then on March 5.  The editor was able to identify the identity of the hacker, who explicitly threatened […]

February 25, the sentence of Anar Mammadov, editor of an online news site criminal.az was reduced from 5 years and 6 months to 5 years and 3 months. The decision was made by the Supreme Court. Speaking in court, the editor, said allegations against him are bogus. “If you think I have committed a crime, […]

On January 14, Azerbaijan Internet Watch reported a mass phishing attack that lasted for about a week. At the time of the report, it was possible to identify that the attacks were coming from an IP registered to the Ministry of the Interior. Almost a month later, the Qurium media foundation continues its investigation into […]

February 18, graphic designer Rasul Hasan, taken for questioning over a Facebook post. Hasan’s Facebook post that resulted in his detention was a GIF image of riot police performing traditional Yalli dance outside the Central Election Commission building. During his questioning, Hasan was forced to remove the GIF. Speaking to local media, Hasan’s father, explained, […]

On February 11, a suspended sentence against Aziz Orucov, editor of an online news platform, was dropped by the Baku Court of Appeal. Orucov was arrested during the criminal investigations against non-governmental organizations in Azerbaijan. He was arrested in 2017, but released in 2018 on a suspended sentence. The sentence was until February 2021. Orucov […]

On January 31, 2020, several Musavat party social media accounts were targeted. According to the reports, the attack began 12.00 UTC time while most of the key party affiliates including page admins were attending commemoration ceremony, celebrating the birthday of the founder of Azerbaijan Republic, Mammad Amin Rasulzade.  According to preliminary reports five Facebook pages, […]

On 10 March 2017, a bill of amendments to the laws on “Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information” and “Telecommunications” was put up for discussion at a plenary meeting of Milli Meclis (Parliament) and was unanimously adopted. Here is a breakdown of what these new amendments mean: New Article 13-1 of the law “on telecommunication” […]

On January 26, Azerbaijani politician, Gultekin Hajibeyli reported of two separate accounts impersonating her online. An Instagram profile claimed Hajibeyli was an escort woman, while a page on Facebook insinuated Hajibeyli was the mistress of other male politicians. Hajibeyli’s personal phone number was placed under the Instagram page which led to her receiving countless calls […]

On January 6, veteran human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev received an email from another human rights lawyer Rasul Jafarov. Aliyev, spotted something was not right and forwarded the email he received to Javarov’s real email.  This is not the first time, Jafarov is targeted. In 2017, the case was captured in detail by Amnesty International.  […]