blocked websites – Azerbaijan Internet Watch

The Ministry of Digital Development and Transport blocked access to the Russian state-owned RIA-Novosti news site on June 3, according to reports by Azerbaijani media. In a statement issued the following day, June 4, the Ministry said the decision to block the Russian news website was a result of the news site running a story that was of defamatory nature against Azerbaijan.

According to Turan News Agency reporting, the Ministry statement said, “RIA Novosti violated Azerbaijani law On Information, Information, and Protection of Information.” Specifically, the statement was referring to an interview published by RIA Novosti with Artak Beglaryan, the Minister of State of the disputed territory of Karabakh. In response, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry accused Russia of “spreading slanderous information against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and promoting separatism” and violating “the 1997 Agreement on Friendship, Security, and Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as the 2022 Declaration on Allied Cooperation, which requires both countries ‘to refrain from any activity directed against the principles of the UN Charter and each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ as well as ‘counter the threats of separatism’.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both Russia and Azerbaijan have blocked or discussed blocking each other’s news sites. At the time of writing this post, at least six Azerbaijan news sites are currently blocked by the Russian internet regulator– Roskomnadzor.

According to Article 13.3.3 of the law on Information, Informatization, and Protection of Information, in cases of existence of a real threat to the lawful interests of the state and society or in urgent cases when there is a risk to the life or health of people, the access to internet information resource is temporarily restricted directly by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies [former name of the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport]. This restriction is applied without a court order.

Who regulates content online in Azerbaijan? Legal analysis

Read further on content regulation in Azerbaijan as per AzNet Watch’s most recent legal overview analysis.

Mehman Aliyev, editor-in-chief of Turan News Agency describes the recent tit-for-tat between Russia and Azerbaijan as tactical. “At present, media in Russia and Azerbaijan are controlled by the state. While they may have state or commercial statuses, it does not change their ‘affiliation’. Both Moscow and Baku expect loyalty not only from their journalists at home but also from the other side. They [states] do not accept criticism of the other side. Hance the blocking of Azerbaijani websites by Roskomnadzor,” writes Aliyev. He also notes that in May, a delegation from Moscow failed at reducing tensions regarding Russia Today [Sputnik.az is part of the Russia Today network but financed by Azerbaijan. Earlier the national legislators in Azerbaijan were discussing blocking access to Sputnik].

In an interview with AzerNews, journalist Gulu Maharramli said, the decision was “adequate.” “RIA Novosti, a Russian state agency, has repeatedly published articles and interviews against Azerbaijan, against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and inciting separatism in Azerbaijan. They have been warned many times, but the latest information shows that the agency disrespects the territorial integrity and state independence of Azerbaijan in these matters. Therefore, it is very important to block such a website, and I think it is a very honest step taken by Azerbaijan, no matter how sharp it is,” said Maharramli.

This is not the first time, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport has ordered the blocking of international news websites. In 2017, the Ministry ordered the blocking of Radio Liberty, accusing the news platform of “posting content deemed to promote violence, hatred, or extremism, violate privacy, or constitute slander” as well as a number of local and exiled news sites.

[Update June 13] According to Turan News Agency, on June 10, RIA-Novosti removed the interview however, the site remains blocked in Azerbaijan.

Anar Mammadov is editor of criminal.az – website that was blocked by the authorities in Azerbaijan in 2018. Mammadov was sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment with a two-year probation period on charges of anti-state appeals, abuse of power and official forgery in March 2019. The official cause of the criminal prosecution was the publication of news about the assassination attempt on the former head of the city of Ganja Elmar Veliyev.

On January 6, Mammadov was pressed with a set of new allegations facing arrest. The accusation comes from a woman, named Malahat Gurbanova. Mammadov wrote about Gurbanova’s legal battle with former Minister of Social Services earlier on. Gurbanova now, alleges Mammadov’s language used to describe Gurbanova in his coverage was slanderous and insulting. Mammadov refutes these claims in his defense adding, if anything, it is he who feels insulted.

Criminal.az is an independent website covering predominantly crime-related stories. The website was blocked by the authorities in 2017, along with a number of other critical and independent news websites. It later began operating under the criminalaz.com domain, which was also blocked shortly after.

*Criminalaz.com, Fia.az, bastainfo.az and topxeber.az were blocked in Azerbaijan after the prosecutor’s office claimed these news websites misinformed their audiences and shared news of provocative nature that were untrue. [Turan News Agency]

**Since May 2017, over 20 websites have been blocked in Azerbaijan, among them: Azadliq Radio (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijan Service) and its international service, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Azadliq Newspaper (independent of the Azadliq radio), Meydan TV, Turan TV and Azerbaijan Saadi (Azerbaijan Hour), OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Unit), abzas.net, obyektiv.tv, and others on the ground these outlets promoted violence, hatred, extremism, violated privacy or constituted slander.

***Websites blocked since then are blocked for slander and spreading misinformation. At some point, an editor of the blocked az24saat.org was asked to remove four articles that mentioned Ali Hasanov, now a former aide to President Ilham Aliyev. Monitortv.info, which was among the blocked websites, also received a note requesting the removal of articles mentioning Ali Hasanov on the grounds these stories contained slander and lies. [Open Democracy]

At the time of the verdict against the journalist Mammadov, several international journalism organizations, and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media criticized the court’s decision.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Azerbaijani authorities to drop charges against Mammadov and pointing to the unfounded prosecution.

“Informing the general public about important events is what journalists do, and the authorities should support this work, and not punish reporters,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ Program Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia.

In June 2019, the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Anar Mammadov.

Timeline

15 May 2019 – Mammadov summoned to the prosecutor’s office. This time the journalist was questioned over a story about the state oil company – SOCAR.

Meydan TV, an independent online news website covering Azerbaijan was also targeted. Although the website of Meydan.tv was blocked already in 2017, following the publication of stories about SOCAR, the website was heavily DDoSed.

9 July 2018 – Mammadov, questioned by the police. The journalist’s home was searched and his personal devices, including his laptop and phone, were seized by the police.

Mammadov was questioned after publishing reports on an attempt on the life of the mayor of Ganja, Elmar Valiyev, on 3 July.

24 July 2018 – Mammadov was summoned to the prosecutor’s office. The journalist was questioned about the publication of reports on the assassination attempt and was warned not to spread “investigative secrets”.

Tag: blocked websites

Azerbaijan blocks RIA Novosti – Russian language state news website – citing violation of the national law [Updated June 13]

journalist facing jail time