Activist: Authorities Do Not Adequately Respond to Discussions in Social Networks

Baku / 18.04.19 / Turan: The Azerbaijani authorities do not promptly respond to issues that are the focus of social networks. Such an opinion in an interview with the program Chetin Sual (Difficult Question) was expressed by the public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.

Social networks are not a single space. There are various segments. They are divided into religious, political and age groups and others. There are also differences between the social networks themselves.

Some topics are discussed in Facebook, and others are discussed in Twitter. In Instagram completely different groups are active. Within small groups, communication is quite good. In principle, social networks were created to provide opportunities for communication.

However, communication between different segments is not satisfactory. Therefore, additional measures are needed so that Azerbaijanis living abroad and other people in the world are involved in communication.

The expert also pointed out the spread of the erroneous idea that the discussions in groups of certain people, including politicians, are a reflection of the entire public opinion.

At the same time, according to Hajiyev, in recent years, and especially since the beginning of this year, the authorities have been closely following issues relevant to social networks that are being discussed by socially active groups. These questions are taken under control, and measures are taken on them.

Previously, the authorities tried to suppress critical voices in social networks and neutralize criticism through the army of trolls. However, this policy failed, because the falsehood was visible to the naked eye. Nonprofessional conduct of this work and primitive records turned such a policy into an object of ridicule.

Sometimes individual topics may explode social networks, as was the case when a new accusation was brought against the blogger Mehman Huseynov or the suicide of the schoolgirl Elina Hajiyeva.

In such a situation, the government, instead of trying to hush up the problem, should promptly solve it and remove the issue from the social networking agenda.

"However, so far I do not see an adequate response," said Hajiyev. He believes that the government should not manage or control information.

Social networks are not a one-sided information space. Unlike television, where viewers cannot express their attitude, social networks are a space where there is oncoming communication.

The government, using modern technologies, can identify problems disturbing people and take measures to eliminate their discontent. At the same time, the government should take a different approach: the head of state and officials should try to show personal qualities and to demonstrate that they are the same users as ordinary people.

In the meantime, there is a barrier between citizens and officials. Even in social networks between MPs and voters the possibility of communication is limited.

"In such a situation, people are increasingly showing discontent, which sometimes leads to an explosion in social networks," concluded Hajiyev. -03B-