Press Council representative: “The proposal should be taken into consideration and presented to the National Assembly in the form of a draft law”.
“There are those who use democracy and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan for their own ends. They don’t properly understand these freedoms, and try to cast certain government officails in an unfavorable light”.
This was said by ruling party representative Malahat Ibrahimqizi at the October 6 press conference at the International Press Center, which was held by a group of deputies from the Yeni Azerbaijan party.
The organizers announced that the press conference was being held as a sign of protest against injurious articles, materials and programs that contradict the state symbols, and national and moral values.
“We must prevent this”
The deputy from the ruling party noted that in a number of media structures, and especially in social networks, materials are spreading that contradict national and moral values. The honor and dignity of the people are being debased. Noting the growth in the number of social network users, Malahat Ibrahimgyz emphasized that at present there is not one law that could regulate activity of the Internet media.
“We must mobilize the entire intelligentsia, create a mechanism for societal censure, in order to prevent all of this. A monitoring group must be created, to keep track of their activities, and then corresponding steps must be taken as permitted by law”, said the deputy. She also said that this doesn’t mean closing off the internet.
An information ombudsmanship must be created
Another deputy, Elmira Akhundova, proposed a way out of the present situation. “We must create the institution of an information ombudsman. Along with this, the Press Council must be greatly empowered regarding the Internet media”, said the deputy.
Press Council representative Mushfig Aleskerli noted that there are broad problems related to the topic of Internet media, and there is a need for concrete measures: “The proposal should be taken into consideration and presented to the National Assembly in the form of a draft law. The problems created by social networks and the Internet media are raising concern both in Azerbaijan and beyond its borders.”
The Press Council representative announced that they have received 600 complaints connected with information spread in the online media. “They are connected only with the media. Just imagine what’s happening in social networks. There national and moral values are being trampled, human rights are being violated. There are also materials being spread in social networks that touch upon the secrets of people’s personal lives,” said Aleskerli.
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This article was originally published in Russian on
Radio Azadliq.
