Opposition criticizes amendments to Azerbaijani legislation concerning Internet

Draft amendments to the Laws "On Information, Informatization, and Information Protection" and "On Telecommunications" have been included into the agenda of the plenary session of the National Assembly to be held on March 7. Both projects are presented to the Parliament as a legislative initiative of the President of Azerbaijan, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by the administration of the Parliament.

Civil society activists treat the proposed innovations as restrictions on the freedom of the Internet.

According to Alesker Mamedli, a member of the "Civil Society Platform", an expert in media law, the amendments restrict the freedom of expression established by the Azerbaijani Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention.

"The legislation includes enough rules establishing (measures of responsibility) for distribution of banned information. In that sense, the regulations of the law on media are also extended to the Internet. On the other hand, granting of the 'relevant executive authority' with powers without a court's decision to block access to websites can in practice result in blocking of resources, distributing information allowed by law, but not suitable for the authorities," Alesker Mamedli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.