Internet community is against control called "self-regulation"

Conference "Innovation and Perspectives in the Internet",  discussed the issues of freedom of expression in the virtual network and the development of e-government, held in Baku. The conference was organized by the  

the Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) with financial support from the Canadian Foundation for Local Initiatives; it brought together the  leading experts and activists in the field of Internet and freedom of information.  Emin Huseynov, head of the IRFS, generally described the situation of Internet in Azerbaijani as controversial, but including more negatives than positives. Negative facts in the technical aspect,  is that  it is behind in infrastructure, and politically - a high level of self-censorship of users  and attempts  of state regulation and licensing. Positive aspects in the development of information transparency were called launching of national communications satellite and creation of  a center of electronic services ASAN.

Azer Hasrat, a member of the newly-minted Commission of the Press Council to regulate the Internet, wished to calm passions over the possible use of the initiative against freedom of speech on the Internet. He tried to explain this step by  good intentions of self-regulation on the Internet, and promised to  leave a  committee if it tries to limit freedom of expression of users and  subjects of information contents.

Independent expert Ali Novruzov still questioned the sincerity of the Press Council, which is trying to shove the public next Trojan horse. "This organization has no power to deal with the Internet. In developed countries, Internet self-regulation  is through such institutions as providers, bloggers, social, community and state," he said.

Novruzov also drew attention to the fact that the  Press Council adopted decision on commission, without discussing it with the online community. This position  was supported by well-known experts in the field of freedom of information Alasgar Mammadli and Rashid Hajili. Mammadli questioned the sincerity of the Press Council,  and called  its initiative  an amateur. He  said  that there is not self-regulation on the  air, which is  also controlled by the Government, and no self-regulation, but the  Press Council does not notice it for years. Hajili, in turn, said one should not expect anything good from the initiatives of the pro-government organization.

"In the world, there is no single opinion on the regulation of the Internet",  said Galib Gurbanov, the chairman of the Internet community of Azerbaijan who  tried to dispel doubts, but he did not give any recipe for solving the problem.

The opinion of the blogsphere on the regulation  is more negative, as shown by the conference.

According to the  blogger Hafiz Hajiyev, who was  previously convicted for free expression, the  government  is not able to limit the scope of the Internet, and recent observations show that it is increasingly recruiting their strength for the game on the site Facebook. "The social network generates individual information producers, who are able to bring their exclusive thoughts to tens and hundreds of thousands of people, bypassing the media resources that the Press Council wants to take under its control," he said, making clear unproductiveness of these claims.

The practice of the implementation of the Law on Freedom of Information, adopted in 2005, testifies the reluctance of governments to promote freedom of information and the Internet, as its an integral part. Alasgar Mammadli said that the information transparency of public resources is within 7%, and internet access in the region is at a critical level. For example, in the Agjabedi region, only 32 of 7,000 people, have access to ADSL.

He also pointed out that the advertised public service of electronic services ASAN includes only nine subjects and 23 auxiliary kinds services, with the exception of two fundamental - obtaining identity cards and passports.

Anar Huseynov, the representative of the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovation under the President of Azerbaijan, called on to make hasty conclusions about ASAN, saying that the ongoing process of improving the structure of the organization, in particular  distribution  its network in the cities of Sumgait, Ganja, Shirvan by the end of this year.

Nobody argued the necessity of ASAN, and even there were calls to support this civil society, the development of this structure. Summing up the conference, Emin Huseynov noted that civil society is ready to support the government's initiative in the formation of free information society. At the same time, he reminded the words of Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, addressed to governments, hatched a plan to control the virtual web: "Do not start a war,  which you lose."—0--