Azerbaijan: media law creates new obstacles for journalists

The approval of the new law "On Media" has strengthened Azeri authorities' control over media and restrictions on their professional activities, journalists have stated. Their concerns are shared by international structures.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 14, 2021, the Azerbaijani Parliament adopted the bill "On Media", which provoked experts' criticism. On December 30, the law was adopted, while journalists' demands were ignored.

In the opinion of Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" News Agency, the new law proceeds from the policy of inciting fear in the society.

Mekhman Guseinov, a well-known blogger, has pointed to the obstacles created by the new law for journalistic investigations. From now on, it will be more difficult to cover violations of the law at elections, as it will be impossible to distribute photos and videos of a person who violates the law, while the covert filming is prohibited.

Nargiz Absalamova, a journalist, believes that the new law will create difficulties for media workers in covering protest actions.

In the opinion of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), the new law has imposed many new restrictions on the country's already tightly controlled media.

Many provisions of the law allow authorities to severely restrict the coverage of events and will be used to prevent criticism of the government, the NHC has added.