According to reporting by Meydan TV, the Media Development Agency (MEDİA) has filed a lawsuit to block the news site “Anaxeber.info.” The website’s editor-in-chief, Azer Talibov, told Meydan TV that the blocking request is linked to the website’s critical reporting covering corruption, government misconduct, and social issues. He claimed that despite multiple requests from the Media Agency and other institutions to remove specific articles, he refused, and this legal action is a form of retaliation. He also mentioned that he did not register with the Media Registry.
Previously, the Media Development Agency had taken similar actions against other websites. On November 14, 2023, the “dia.az” website was blocked, followed by “teref.info” and several others, based on Baku Court of Appeals rulings.
Azerbaijani lawmakers passed the controversial law on media in December 2021. It came into force in 2022. As part of the law, authorities introduced the Media Registry in September 2022, which sparked protests from independent media outlets, journalists, and editors who feared the registry would have grave consequences on media freedom in a country with rampant censorship.
Critics of the draft law worried the new legal document would seriously threaten media freedom, including online media resources, as it contains provisions granting a discretionary power to the state to regulate media excessively, especially online media, as well as introduce further restrictions on journalists’ work, media companies, and relevant entities. Critics were also vocal about the absence of a broad and meaningful public consultation of the law before its adoption.
As part of the new law, a registry system for online media outlets and journalists working for online media platforms or working as freelance journalists was envisioned. This and other provisions of the law raised several questions regarding the compliance of the law with the international standards on media freedom.
The Venice Commission issued a negative opinion on the law, and a group of Azerbaijan journalists and media leaders filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan in 2023, arguing that the law contradicts Azerbaijan’s Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Constitutional Court has yet to review the case.
The first time Talibov’s website was blocked was in 2018 when the website existed under a different URL – Anaxeber.az. Despite Talibov’s attempt to challenge the decision, he was unsuccessful. In the same year, access to “Az24saat.org” and “Xural.com” were also blocked.
On June 13, 2024, the ECHR ruled in favor of four blocked media outlets, finding that their blocking violated their right to freedom of expression. The court ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay each applicant €5,000 in compensation, but Talıbov claims that the compensation has not yet been paid.
The practice of blocking of websites in Azerbaijan began in 2017 with the blocking of “Azadlıq” Radio (azadliq.org), “Azadlıq” newspaper (azadliq.info), Meydan TV (meydan.tv), Turan TV (turan.tv), and “Azərbaycan Saatı” (azerbaycansaati.org).
At the time, the authorities argued the reasons for blocking these websites were, calls aimed at “forcible change of the constitutional order,” “organization of mass riots,” and other illegal activities. These websites were considered independent and/or platforms affiliated with opposition parties. As a result, the decision to block them was based on legal claims that lacked evidence. This was further reflected in the review process when the decision to block these platforms was implemented. According to EHRAC, “no effective and independent review took place in the first instance decision to block access to the websites in 2017, and in subsequent appeals. The courts accepted the authorities’ allegations at face value and did not attempt to consider or explain adequately why the content was unlawful.”
The intentions behind the blocking decision were further reflected in subsequent actions by the Government of Azerbaijan against the online platforms. Such that, at the time of the first decision to block these websites for access in 2017, the Azerbaijani Government claimed these websites continued disseminating their content through VPN services or social media platforms and therefore the action taken against them did not cause significant changes to the published content. However, in February 2020, the Ministry of Transportation, Communications and High Technologies “requested the domestic courts to impose a ban on the applicants’ ability to share their content through VPN services and social media platforms.”
