News

On September 16, Toplum TV, an online news platform had its Facebook page hacked. The hacker accessed the account by hacking one employee’s personal Facebook profile. As a result, the news platform lost 26k of its followers and two weeks’ worth of shared content.  In an interview with Meydan TV, the platform’s director, journalist Khadija […]

[Update] According to Turan News Agency reporting, the temporary ban on TikTok placed in September was removed. The decision was announced by the service for electronic safety at the Ministry of Digitial Development and Transport.  Users of the social media platform TikTok in Azerbaijan started reporting difficulties accessing the application as early as September 13. […]

Earlier this week, on 12th September 2022, fighting erupted between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops along their border. Over the next few days, community members in Azerbaijan reported that the TikTok app was blocked locally. We analyzed OONI network measurement data to investigate the block. We found that TikTok has been blocked in both Azerbaijan and Armenia over the last few days. In this […]

[Update] On January 5, the Baku Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the December 29 court decision [see previous updates below]. According to the ruling of the appellate court, releasing Zeynalli under house arrest would interrupt the course of the investigation reported Meydan TV on January 6, 2023. [Update] On December 29, 2022, a local court […]

After posting a poem dedicated to the first lady of Azerbaijan on the occasion of her birthday, the poet, Ibrahim Khudai was called into questioning. Shortly before his visit he removed the poem from the social media platform Facebook according to reports.  According to Khudai statements to the media, he was called in not for […]

In the following featured legal analysis, AIW looks at the litigation work carried out thus far in Azerbaijan on devices infected by Pegasus. Specifically, this legal analysis looks at how Pegasus spyware was deployed to monitor journalists, lawyers, and activists in Azerbaijan and the legal steps taken within the existing national legislative framework to mitigate […]

Political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was unlawfully detained yet again according to reports by Azerbaijani media. During the interrogation, which lasted six hours, Hajiyev’s Facebook posts in which he criticized the Ministry of the Internal Affairs were removed.  In his own statement, Hajiyev said, he was threatened that less he removed the posts, and stops writing […]

Magsud Aliyev, a political activist, was arrested on August 16 and sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention on charges of disobeying police according to local media reports. Speaking to Turan News Agency, Aliyev’s father, Faig Aliyev, said the family was not aware of their son’s arrest until they heard it from his friends, days […]

[Update] On September 5, a local court sentenced Rahimova to 460hours of community service. Rahimova’s lawyer said they will be appealing the decision.  Gulnara Rahimova is a member of the opposition Popular Front party. On August 11, Rahimova shared a Facebook post in which she described how she was unlawfully detained while on her way […]

A recent conference organized by the Prosecutor General’s office in Baku on the recent violations of media legislation has raised eyebrows among civil society. On August 10, an event, titled, “Freedom of the Media and Information Security of Society under the Increasing Influence of Social Networks,” was held at the General Prosecutor’s Office.  Among the […]