The authorities assure that the draft law on Media does not provide for state control over the media

Baku/13.12.21/Turan: An exchange of views on the draft law "On Media" took place today with the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Zahid Oruj with the participation of the head of the Media Development Agency Ahmed Ismailov, Chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (NCTRB) Ismet Rajabov and Director of Information Turan agency Mehman Aliyev. The meeting was held on the initiative of Oruj, who, starting the meeting, said that "the state really wants the healthy development of the media."

During the exchange of views, aspects of both the general vision of the goals and objectives of the state in the field of media and individual provisions of the draft law, in particular, the status of a journalist and types of media, a single register of media, a single certificate, and an Internet platform were touched upon.

Ahmed Ismailov said that the draft law does not pursue the goal of managing and controlling the media by the state, but envisages streamlining relations in the new conditions of the development of digital technologies, and in particular, the Internet.

At the same time, the head of the NCTRB noted that the project does not set the task of licensing Internet television, as a number of experts interpret it.

Mehman Aliyev, in turn, said that in the conditions of the rapid development of the information society and social information space in Azerbaijan, it would be more correct to work out a general strategy for the development of the information society of Azerbaijan, including programs in various areas of media policy, and only then form a legislative base for these goals and objectives. ...

“The information space has gone beyond the media,” he said. In conclusion, the representatives of the authorities stated that they are open for discussions and proposals regarding the draft law on media.

The Media Bill was promulgated on December 10, when it was debated in parliament with the participation of 70 media and NGO representatives. Mehman Aliyev, like a number of other critical journalists and experts, were not invited to the discussions that day. The authorities plan to hold discussions in parliament so that by January 1, 2022, the bill will enter into force. —0—