Expert from Armenia tells beginning bloggers of Nagorno-Karabakh about information wars

Samvel Martirosyan, an expert in information safety and a well-known blogger from Armenia, held a seminar in the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh on the topic "Artsakh and Armenia in Information War: Blogs and Social Networks".

He has noted that Karabakh has nice potentials, "and in the future the situation will change." "There're not so many bloggers in Karabakh, while in Armenia today they are a real alternative to mass media. Bloggers are invited to come and cover press conferences; they are quite popular in Armenia and have become newsmakers," the expert has noticed.

As to the fact that in Azerbaijan bloggers are pursued and convicted by the authorities, Mr Martirosyan has noted that "in principle, a blogger is a dangerous phenomenon" and "bloggers are causing the same public resonance as the press; however, they work alone and can theoretically undermine the pillars of the power, especially if the power is totalitarian; then, bloggers are a threat."

"In general, we can see a clear correlation: the poorer is the situation in the country with the civil freedom, the more bloggers are active there. The fact that Azerbaijan is in the top ten by the number of bloggers, is also an indicator," said the expert in information safety.

The Ministry of Culture and Youth Matters of Nagorno-Karabakh was the organizer of the seminar, which took place on December 12-15 in Stepanakert and was attended by 74 persons, mainly, higher school students and various employees.