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May 2020 bring us all across the world censorship-free internet and for everyone documenting, reporting, monitoring, advocating, and fighting for it, here is to a year full of progress and solidarity in standing together for the good cause.

On December 24, 2019, the administrative-economic court in Baku rejected the claim by arqument.az against Transportation, Communication and High Technologies ministry. Arqument.az took the ministry to court following its decision to block arqument.az inside the country.

Help us measure website blocks in Azerbaijan

6 journalists remain behind bars in Azerbaijan according to newly released report by the Committee to Protect Journalists

On December 4, Qurium released a report documenting how Azerbaijan may have been using FindFace technology. In its analysis, Qurium was able to identify that a server in Azertelecom – backbone internet provider – runs Find Face version 4.0.2.

According to a forensic report released by Qurium on December 10, Gununsesi.org – an opposition website in Azerbaijan – it was possible to conclude that the website was blocked by means of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI).

On December 5, Shakir Zade, Azerbaijani activist living abroad, reported his YouTube channel was taken down following requests made by Milli TV, Qanun TV and AnTV.

On December 1, Ali Karimli, leader of the opposition party Popular Front reported his personal Instagram profile, taken down by Instagram without any notification.

On November 9, 2019, political activist and public figure, Gultekin Hajibeyli realized her Facebook page where she had some 200,000 followers was hacked. Hajibeyli’s page contains information about her recent work, speaking engagements, and interviews.

According to 2019 Freedom on the Net report, Azerbaijan was downgraded to “not free” scoring 39 out of 100.