2024 was a year of a series of arrests of TikTokers in Azerbaijan. In April 2024, approximately 60 TikTokers were called in for questioning and received various administrative sentences or fines. In December 2024, authorities in Azerbaijan issued arrest warrants against 10 TikTok users. Some were arrested on the grounds of drug possession, others for gambling. The Ministry of Internal Affairs accused the TikTokers of promoting immorality. At the time of their arrest, veteran journalist and former director of the now defunct Turan News Agency, Mehman Aliyev, told Meydan TV in an interview that the arrests were likely connected to the law on media introduced in 2022.
On May 30, 2025, by a decision of the Baku Court of Appeal, three of the men arrested in December were released under house arrest. Vugar Zeynalzadeh, nicknamed “Vaga”, Maharram Hasanov, nicknamed “Tosu”, and Emin Abdullayev.
Zeynalzade and Hasanov were arrested under drug possession charges, and Abdullayev was charged with legalization of a large amount of property obtained by crime by an organized group and organizing gambling.
In 2025, reports surfaced of at least three more TikTokers being arrested and receiving administrative sentences and reprimands.