Elections 2020: Why is the Internet Fever?

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- Vahid bey, there is a speed problem in the Internet space of Azerbaijan in recent days. Usually, Facebook and YouTube users have problems uploading and watching videos on the Internet. What is happening?

- The problems with Internet speed in recent days are directly related to the recent agenda in the country. People were hoping for reform before the recent parliamentary elections. Many young candidates and their teams came out and took an active part in the elections. Thanks to their activity, numerous irregularities in national elections have been discovered and uncovered. The people, who have had fill of stability, were eagerly watching certain changes as a result of the elections. The number of illegalities, which occurred immodestly, and videos during the election was more than ever. Uploading more ore videos to the Internet, the existence of a wider audience, and their watching more videos have resulted in a traffic explosion. Since provider channels, which do not have scruples about defrauding their users in the traffic, could not withstand this, this has led to slowdowns and problems, especially in the work of multimedia applications.

- This is not the first time this problem has happened. This is occurring, in particular, during the most important days for the country. Earlier on October 19, during a rally in the center of Baku, the Internet was cut off. Now, the problem with the Internet lies in the election day and the following days. Do you think that everything that is happening is managed?

- Yes, we have had similar problems before. Nevertheless, during the mass Arab tourists entering the country and during mass rallies. When the number of people walking with a live broadcast in their hands and viewers of those videos increases, especially when uploading traffic exceeds the norm, in a sense, it can lead to Internet traffic jams. This is a completely unmanaged process. It simply shows that the country's network is not resistant to force majeure events.

- Since Azerbaijan has limited access to free media, almost all election fraud videos are being shared on social networks - Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and people can watch what's happening on social networks. Do you think it is possible to leave people completely uninformed by restricting and intervening in the Internet on important days? So did those who did it achieve their goals?

- Of course, considering the structure of Azerbaijan's Internet infrastructure, it is possible and too easy for the government to restrict or completely block the Internet at any time. I do not expect it to be completely closed, as this is unacceptable for our country trying to create a democratic image in a foreign vision. However, restrictions are possible. In recent days, I do not give it a chance because the problems were not so global, there were no interruptions. There is simply a speed problem and short-term breaks.

- Although a few days have passed since the election, there are still some Internet interruptions and low Internet speeds throughout the day. Do you think why they do it now? What are their goals now?

I can't say anything about some places, I only noticed the Internet problem on election night. In my opinion, the problem may be occurred because of “caching” information by some providers and software (application) problems on some devices.

- What can be done to provide free, comfortable, and problem-free Internet to people and to prevent artificial interference? What measures can be taken?

- At present, the main problem with Azerbaijan's Internet is non-competitiveness. In recent months, state-owned providers have been stealing a large number of consumers from private providers as a result of unfair competition, and thus, many consumers across the country have become dependent on state providers. The only prerequisite for comfortable and high-quality service is the government's withdrawal from the sector and leaving it to the private sector as a whole. Then the quality of the service will increase, the prices will go down, and alternative options will be created. We do not have such a chance right now. The Ministry of Transport, Communications, and High Technologies is pursuing a monopoly policy that seriously slows down the development of the ICT sector in the country. The problem is global and there is no easy solution.