February 9, 2026 – Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has adopted a sweeping new resolution on the protection of personality rights, prohibiting the dissemination of information about a person’s private and family life — even when that information is accurate — without their consent.
Under the new rules, individuals may now seek civil remedies on the grounds of privacy violation regardless of whether the information in question is true or false. They can demand moral damages, deletion of the content, a retraction, or an injunction against further publication. Previously, civil action was only possible if the information published was demonstrably false.
The ruling has drawn considerable public attention, not least because it came shortly after blogger Mehman Huseynov published a series of videos about Alyona Aliyeva, the daughter-in-law of President Ilham Aliyev. Critics have questioned whether the timing is coincidental.
Jurist Fariz Namazli told Meydan TV that while the ruling addresses a genuine gap in existing law — there was previously no effective civil remedy for the unauthorized disclosure of true private information — it carries a serious risk of being weaponized against journalists and bloggers. He noted that recent social media posts touching on the private and family lives of public officials had increasingly prompted calls for legal accountability against those who published them.
Jamil Hasanli, chairman of the National Council, was more direct. He described the ruling as part of a broader strategy to curtail freedoms in Azerbaijan, arguing that its practical effect would fall almost exclusively on journalists, bloggers, and those who disseminate information about those in power. He pointed out the deep irony: Azerbaijani authorities themselves have for years gathered, used, and publicized the private information of activists and dissidents — including through the placement of covert surveillance devices in people’s homes — and have used that material as a tool of blackmail and intimidation through state-aligned media outlets. “It appears the authorities will use this law to target journalists and bloggers and restrict the freedom of those working in the information space,” Hasanli said.
Azerbaijan’s Constitution already guarantees privacy under Article 32, prohibiting the collection, storage, use or dissemination of personal information without a person’s consent. Critics argue the new ruling does not strengthen those protections in practice — it primarily creates a new legal instrument that can be turned against those who expose wrongdoing by the powerful.