Penalties to Be Imposed for Dissemination of Prohibited Information on Internet

Baku / 17.11.17 / Turan: Fines may be applied for dissemination by the owners of information resources and domains of prohibited information, as well as for refusing to stop such information. The country's parliament is preparing to make such changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses. They were discussed at a meeting of the Milli Majlis Committee on November 16, the press service of the MM reported.

The proposals were presented by Ali Huseynli, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building. The proposed article assumes the penalty of a physical and legal person for the dissemination of prohibited information on the Internet.

Individuals will be fined from 500 to 1,000 manat, officials - from 1,000 to 1,500 manat, and legal entities - from 1,500 to 2,000 manat.

Penalties will also apply for the dissemination of information prohibited by the law On Information, Informatization and Protection of Information.

For this reason, access to information that is considered to be banned for distribution must be immediately limited to Internet resources. Otherwise, the officials of the host provider and Internet provider will be fined from 1,500 to 2,000 manat, and legal entities - from 2,000 to 2,500 manat.

This article will be applied in case this action does not cause criminal liability.

In connection with the proposed additions to the Code of Administrative Offenses, the laws On Telecommunications, On Mass Media, and On Television and Radio Broadcasting will be amended. The Parliamentary Committee for Culture recommended the draft for the plenary session of the MM.

Recall that in March this year, the country's parliament amended the law On Information, Informatization and Information Protection. The changes prohibit the dissemination of some information. These include the propaganda of terrorism and appeals, ways and means of realizing terror. They also ban open calls for violence, religious extremism, propaganda of national, racial and religious hatred and enmity, a split in territorial integrity, forcible seizure of power, and organization of mass riots. The list of prohibitions also includes information about state secrets, ways of making and using drugs, and pornographic materials.

In connection with the changes, the necessary powers are granted to the relevant executive authority (Ministry of Communications and High Technologies).

According to the law, if the executive body reveals prohibited information on ae website, it can contact the owner of the information resource or the provider about its withdrawal. If within 8 hours after the warning the information from the website is not eliminated, then the executive body can apply to the court in order to restrict users' access to this Internet resource. -0-