Two legislative and executive actions adopted in July 2026 significantly expand the Azerbaijani state’s capacity to control online content — one broadening the grounds for immediate administrative website blocking before any court decision, the other initiating the development of an automated system to prevent prohibited content from reaching the internet at all.
On 10 July 2026, parliament amended Article 13-3 of the Law “On Information, Informatization and Protection of Information,” expanding the categories of content that the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport (MDDT) may temporarily restrict without a prior court order. Under the previous framework, pre-court blocking was available only in narrowly defined urgent cases; under the new law, it now applies to content deemed to “insult public morality,” “express open disrespect for society,” be “contrary to national and moral values,” or constitute “insult and defamation,” as well as to “false information creating a threat of certain socially dangerous consequences.” The restriction takes effect by ministerial decision and remains in force until a court examines the matter — meaning access is cut before any judicial review of lawfulness, necessity, or proportionality.
The Independent Lawyers’ Network (ILN), which analyzed the amendments in its October 2026 thematic monitoring report, found the new grounds to be broad and vague. The ILN noted that concepts such as “national-moral values,” “public morality,” and “false information” have been applied excessively broadly against criticism and alternative views in Azerbaijan, increasing the risk that the expanded powers will be used to restrict legitimate expression. The European Court of Human Rights has held that internet blocking measures require clear legal definition and effective safeguards against arbitrariness — standards the new law does not meet.
On 30 July 2026, President Aliyev signed Decree No. 745 instructing the Cabinet of Ministers to submit, within seven months, proposals for a new “Control of Information Prohibited from Dissemination” information system. The system is designed to automatically detect, by means of artificial intelligence and other technical tools, information prohibited from dissemination, and to prevent its placement on the internet — that is, to filter content before it is published, not merely after. The Ministry of Finance was tasked with covering the costs of the system’s creation, operation, and maintenance.
The ILN described the envisaged system as “a mechanism of preventive censorship of the internet,” noting that automatic filtering of content prior to publication — without assessment of context or public significance — could obstruct the dissemination of lawful information. It drew a direct comparison to similar control mechanisms operating in China and Iran. Together, the two measures could “excessively expand the state’s capacity to interfere with online expression, restrict the circulation of information of public interest and intensify self-censorship,” the ILN found.
The July amendments build on a pattern of expanding extrajudicial blocking authority that az-netwatch.org has documented over several years. Adding an AI-based pre-publication filtering layer would represent a qualitative shift—from blocking content after it appears to preventing it from appearing at all.