{"id":347896,"date":"2026-08-05T17:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/saytlarin-bloklanmasindan-sosial-s%c9%99b%c9%99k%c9%99l%c9%99r%c9%99-az%c9%99rbaycanda-r%c9%99q%c9%99msal-m%c9%99kan-nec%c9%99-d%c9%99yisdirilir\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T17:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:24:27","slug":"the-evolution-of-digital-regulation-in-azerbaijan-from-website-blocking-to-platform-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/the-evolution-of-digital-regulation-in-azerbaijan-from-website-blocking-to-platform-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of digital regulation in Azerbaijan: From website blocking to platform governance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past few months, the National Assembly of Azerbaijan has adopted several complementary amendments concerning the regulation of the internet and social media. At first glance, these changes appear to address different issues. One of them concerns restrictions on people under the age of 16 opening social media accounts. Another requires foreign social media platforms to register or establish a local representative office in Azerbaijan. A further amendment grants state authorities additional grounds to temporarily block internet resources without a court order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewed individually, each of these amendments is presented as serving a different purpose. Official justifications emphasize protecting children in the digital environment, preventing harmful content, safeguarding personal data, combating disinformation, and ensuring information security. These objectives are also cited as the main rationale in the explanatory notes accompanying the latest amendments adopted by the National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when these amendments are considered together, a broader picture emerges. The gradual expansion of the legal grounds for blocking websites in recent years, the adoption of the 2022 Law on Media, the tightening of restrictions in 2025 related to the concepts of “public morality” and “gross disrespect for society” on social media, the increased legal liability of social media users, and now the introduction of new legal obligations for social media platforms all appear to be different stages of the same legal process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scope of the new legislative package is quite broad. Under the proposed amendments, individuals under the age of 16 will not be allowed to create personal accounts on social media platforms that are subject to age restrictions. Platforms will be required to verify users’ ages, implement parental controls for users aged 16 to 18, register or establish a local representative office in Azerbaijan, and respond to requests from state authorities within the prescribed time limits. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in substantial fines, advertising bans, and the gradual reduction of internet traffic as sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, parliament has adopted another amendment to the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information. The amendment expands the list of circumstances under which internet resources may be temporarily blocked without a court order. Previously, such blocking was only permitted in urgent cases where there was a threat to the legally protected interests of the state and society or a real danger to people’s lives and health. Under the new amendment, the list has been expanded to include the promotion of narcotic drugs, defamatory and insulting content, material that violates the right to privacy, and disinformation deemed to pose a threat to public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These amendments are neither isolated nor one-off legal measures. Rather, they can be seen as a continuation of the regulatory approach to governing the digital environment that has developed over recent years. This is particularly evident given that the practice of blocking internet resources in Azerbaijan has expanded since 2017, while a new legal framework for the media sector was established with the adoption of the Law on Media in 2022, further broadening state regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is the primary objective of these latest legal amendments? Is the state genuinely seeking to protect children and users from digital risks, or is it also expanding its legal and technical control over the internet and social media? This question has become one of the most widely debated aspects of the new legislative package.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This article examines the latest legal amendments not in isolation, but against the backdrop of the laws adopted over the past decade and the way they have been implemented in practice. Its aim is to assess the long-term impact of these legal changes on Azerbaijan’s digital space, media freedom, and freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the legal framework tightened?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The legal regulation of the internet and social media in Azerbaijan did not emerge overnight. A review of the laws adopted in recent years and their implementation shows that the state has gradually expanded its control over the digital environment. This process initially targeted websites, then online media, followed by content shared on social media, and now extends directly to the platforms themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017: A new legal mechanism for blocking websites<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Restriction of Freedom of Expression – Illustration by ChatGPT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first major turning point in this process came in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That year, Article 13-3 was added<\/a> to the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information. The amendment granted the relevant executive authority the power, in urgent cases, to temporarily restrict access to internet resources without a court order. Under the law, however, the authority was required to apply to a court within five days of imposing such a restriction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation justified this power only in cases where there was a threat to “the legally protected interests of the state and society” or a “real danger to people’s lives and health.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same year, the mechanism was put into practice. Access to the websites of Meydan TV, Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani Service (AzadliqRadiosu), the Azadliq newspaper, Turan TV, and the Azerbaijan Hour project was blocked. The Sabail District Court later upheld the blocking of these websites. Although state authorities accused the outlets of disseminating information contrary to the interests of the state, the media organizations rejected the allegations and argued that the decision lacked a legal basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident is widely regarded as the first large-scale example of website blocking in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leyla Mustafayeva, an Azerbaijani journalist living in Germany and editor-in-chief of the Qazetchi website, believes that the media- and internet-related laws adopted in Azerbaijan in recent years have primarily served to restrict the ability of independent media to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to her, the blocking of independent news websites since 2017 has been part of the same policy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Leyla
Leyla Mustafayeva. Photo: VOA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“The steps taken by the Azerbaijani government have been aimed less at regulating the operation of the media than at restricting the activities of independent media. The websites that have been blocked are mainly media outlets operating from abroad, adhering to the ethical principles of journalism, and maintaining a critical editorial stance. Because the government has been unable to control them, it has chosen to block these websites instead,” she said.
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Subsequent years: The grounds for blocking were expanded<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The 2017 amendment was only the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years that followed, the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information was amended several times. As a result, the legal grounds for state intervention against internet resources were gradually expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, successive amendments introduced new provisions covering information products considered harmful to children, illegal gambling, certain categories of prohibited content, and false information deemed to be of public significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, another amendment added content that “insults public morality” or “expresses blatant disrespect for society” to the list of prohibited categories of information on internet resources. At the same time, corresponding liability provisions were introduced into the Code of Administrative Offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, mechanisms for blocking and intervening in online content that were originally intended primarily for emergency situations gradually came to be applied in a much broader range of circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022: The law on media changed the rules for digital media<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The next stage in the legal regulation of the internet came with the adoption of the Law on Media in 2022. For the first time, the law<\/a> established a separate legal framework for online media and created the Media Register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media. Photo: monticello\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the official explanation, the law was intended to establish the legal foundations of media activity, promote professional journalism, and increase transparency in the media sector. It redefined the concept of a journalist, the rights and obligations of media entities, accreditation procedures, and the relationship between the state and the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most debated innovations was the creation of the Media Register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be included in the register, media organizations and journalists were required to meet a number of legal criteria, including legal registration, maintaining a permanent editorial office, employment under a labor contract, higher education qualifications, and other professional requirements set out in the law. While media entities included in the register gained access to certain rights and privileges, media organizations and journalists that were not registered faced significant practical restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years that followed, applications from a number of independent media organizations seeking inclusion in the Media Register were rejected. The Media Development Agency (MEDIA) justified these decisions by arguing that the applicants did not meet the criteria established by the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent media representatives, however, argued that although the register was presented as a voluntary mechanism, in practice it had become an administrative tool for controlling access to the media market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process did not stop with registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning in 2023, the Media Development Agency (MEDIA) started filing lawsuits seeking the suspension of certain online media outlets operating outside the Media Register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court rulings subsequently terminated<\/a> the activities of several online media outlets or revoked their legal entity status. The official justification was that these outlets were not operating in compliance with the requirements of the Law on Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media law experts, however, argued that these decisions could weaken media pluralism and significantly restrict the ability of media organizations operating outside the state registration system to function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Venice Commission and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media stated that several provisions of the law should be brought into line with European standards on freedom of expression and media pluralism. In their view, the Media Register and the mandatory criteria established for journalists could have a negative impact on the operation of independent media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, legal oversight began to extend beyond the content of internet resources to the activities of media organizations themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leyla Mustafayeva views the creation of the Media Register as a continuation of this policy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The purpose of the Media Register is less to regulate the media than to restrict it. When we look at the legislative amendments adopted in recent years as a whole, we can see that they all follow the same direction.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thus, following the creation of the legal mechanism for blocking internet resources in 2017, a new phase began in 2022 in which the activities of media organizations themselves became subject to more detailed state regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the arrests of journalists<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

From the end of 2023 onward, the number of criminal cases brought against representatives of independent media in Azerbaijan increased rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first arrests targeted staff members of AbzasMedia. They were followed by the detention of employees of Toplum TV, Meydan TV, and other independent media organizations in connection with various criminal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At present, nearly 30 journalists and media workers are in detention in connection with different criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Detained journalists and activists. Photo: Meydan TV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of them were initially charged with smuggling and later faced additional charges including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery, money laundering, and other economic crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the journalists deny the charges, maintaining that their arrests are directly linked to their professional activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These arrests have been criticized in numerous statements by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, and other international organizations. These bodies have stated that the operating space for independent media in Azerbaijan has narrowed significantly in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, much of the country’s alternative information space gradually shifted to social media. Against this backdrop, the government’s focus expanded beyond media organizations to the social media platforms themselves, their users, and the rules governing the operation of foreign platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next phase of this process came with the legislative amendments adopted in 2025 and 2026. The focus was no longer limited to the content being published, but extended to how social media platforms operate, the verification of users’ ages, the registration of platforms in Azerbaijan, and the further expansion of the grounds on which internet resources may be blocked without a court order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Azerbaijani journalist and media expert Arzu Geybulla, whose work has appeared in international media outlets, says that the current measures are a continuation of the trend that began in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Arzu Geybulla. Photo: Personal archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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“In 2017, a legal mechanism was created to block websites. Then came the Media Register, followed by the arrests of journalists. Now the focus has shifted to the platform level. I see this as a consistent and cumulative project aimed at gradually closing down every channel of independent information.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Administrative penalties against social media users for their posts<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, social media users, bloggers, and activists who have shared critical content have been subject to administrative proceedings in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly after the amendments made in early 2025 to the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information and the Code of Administrative Offences, certain posts shared on social media began to be classified as “insulting public morality” or “expressing blatant disrespect toward society.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arrest. Source: Maxx-Studio\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Following these amendments, several social media users have been fined or detained under these provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent lawyers point out that concepts such as “public morality,” “national moral values,” and “blatant disrespect toward society” do not have clear legal definitions in the legislation. In their view, this creates the possibility of the same legal provisions being applied differently in different cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025\u20132026: The new stage of control is now directed at social media platforms<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The latest amendments differ from previous legislation in one important respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While earlier laws mainly regulated content published on internet resources, media organizations, and the activities of journalists, the new amendments directly intervene in the operational mechanisms of social media platforms themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the amendments adopted by the National Assembly, new provisions were added to the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information, as well as to the Code of Administrative Offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendments cover several areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n