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Internet Not Free in Azerbaijan - Freedom House
Baku / 05.11.19 / Turan: The Freedom House human rights organization published the next annual Internet freedom rating in the world.
China remains the main violator of Internet freedom in the world, while the CIS countries are not far behind it in this area.
In addition to the Baltic countries from the countries of the former USSR, today Internet freedom is only in Armenia and Georgia, Freedom House believes.
In Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, the Internet is “partially free,” and in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan it is “not free.”
Armenia and Georgia took 10th and 13th places in the report, respectively, and Azerbaijan was on the 45th place.
The section on Azerbaijan says that the country has repeatedly turned off Internet channels, blocked dozens of local and international sites, and limited access to social networks. All this was done in order to "drown out" the voices of those dissatisfied with the authorities and thwart the mobilization of activists for protests using social networks. Among the main problems are the following:
In December, the Court of Appeal in Baku upheld the government’s decision to block several online media outlets. The country’s Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal’s ruling in June 2018.
Independent news websites and opposition activists suffered cyber attacks ahead of April’s snap presidential election.
Legislative amendments to Azerbaijan’s Code of Administrative Offenses imposed new fines for distributing illegal content online.
Multiple online journalists, bloggers, and social media users were detained for their online activity, with sentences of up to six years in prison.
The report contains dozens of examples confirming the above violations.
Freedom House examined 65 countries of the world, in which 87% of all Web users in the world live. 40 of these countries use user tracking programs.
Rating of countries by the level of Internet access:
1. Iceland, 2. Estonia, 3. Canada, 4. Germany, 5. Australia, 6. United Kingdom, 7. USA, 10. Georgia, 13. Armenia.
In the last positions:
22. Kyrgyzstan, 33. Ukraine, 45. Azerbaijan, 48. Belarus, 50. Kazakhstan, 51. Russia, 58. Uzbekistan, 64. Iran, 65. China. -02D-
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- 5 November 2019 10:40
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- 5 November 2019 12:08
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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