Is there Internet freedom in Azerbaijan?

For many in Washington DC, the internet threatens what post-Soviet authoritarian states value most: power through consistency, and consistency through power.

Is there Internet freedom in Azerbaijan - The host of the 2012 Internet Governance Forum?

The Aliyev government insists that "there is", while the majority of the international watchdogs believe "there isn't"....

TURAN’s Washington correspondent discussed this topic with Katy Pearce, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, and recently returned from Azerbaijan, where the government locks up its online critics on trumped-up charges…

Dr. Pearce specializes in technology and media use in the former Soviet Union. Her research focuses on social and political uses of technologies and digital content in the transitioning democracies and semi-authoritarian states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Question: How would you describe the countries that are considered to have internet freedom?

What are their measurements?

Answer: Defining "internet freedom" is a difficult thing. Internet freedom, or even freedom more broadly, means entirely different things to different people or institutions. Some may define internet freedom very literally with regard to blocking of websites, for example. China is the classic case in this regard. This is generally what Azerbaijani government officials mean when they talk about internet freedom in Azerbaijan. However, there is a much more nuanced meaning. The Chinese filtering and blocking style is what scholar Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski call first generation controls. There are more subtle means of reducing Internet freedom though: second generation controls include a legal and social environment, as well as technical capabilities that allow for just-in-time controls, often in the name of security or stability, like blocking websites during elections. This also could include shutting down sites or service providers for other reasons - pirated software for example - but really the purpose is to shut down other content. Or, the most popular perhaps is controlling spaces because of the potential for child pornography or slander against the state.

The third generation, according to Deibert and Rohzinski, is when a state competes in the online space - through monitoring and actions like having pro-government commenters and bloggers (who don't make their affiliation known).

Another issue in internet freedom is also social and is quite common in Azerbaijan - self-censorship. Because of the perception that they are being monitored and the potential repercussions, some Azerbaijanis - consciously or subconsciously - are careful about what they say and do online. And certainly we've seen that there are "real life" repercussions for online behavior in Azerbaijan. Thus this self-censorship is logical.

The interesting effect of this is that encouraging self-censorship is a more efficient means of reducing freedom of expression. It is more cost-effective than what China does, certainly. And it creates cognitive patterns that are hard for people to break. It becomes second nature for people to self-censor. Additionally the NGO Freedom House does an annual assessment of internet freedom globally.

Question: Why do the authoritarian regimes deny the fact that they pressure internet freedom in their countries? It's not something that you can put in a hidden place like prison away from everyone, or is it? What should the people do to learn the real situation in their countries?

Answer: I think that Azerbaijan is an interesting case of this. It was only in the last year that Azerbaijani government officials started reacting to criticisms about Internet freedom. I can only imagine that "someone” realized that it was possible to publicly state "There is Internet Freedom in Azerbaijan" by using the narrow definition of no blocking and filtering. And in the last year I've heard this statement made over and over again.

The Azerbaijani government does care about its international image to some degree. It has been criticized on this point and it has a fairly easy defense. It is not surprising that officials engage with it.

Internet freedom as an issue is a bit complicated because there are both technical and human aspects to it. The Azerbaijani government wants to be seen as part of the modern information technology world and thus cannot ignore the criticisms on this issue. Yet the human rights angle is what many international critics are most worried about.

As far as what people should do to learn about the realities versus the propaganda - for people in Azerbaijan, I imagine that many are already skeptical of what the government says. And those people that are very interested likely can find alternative information online.

For an international audience, I think that if people care about Azerbaijan, they know what the real deal is.

Question: If we look at the wider South Caucasus internet statistics, what is the main picture?

What are the differences and similarities between the three countries?

Answer: The most recent data that we have is now a year old (there will be new data in a few months), but speaking to the general trends - there has been a lot of growth in technology in all 3 Caucasus states. This is due to a lot of factors -- personal computers are cheaper (a specific moment was in 2008 when notebooks became available for less than US$200), Internet has gotten less expensive, and perhaps most importantly mobile Internet -- both in the form of USB flash cellular modems and with smart phones. Another contributing factor is social networking sites.

Compared to 5 years ago, when most of the Internet was static web pages, now a regular person can go online and engage socially. There are many people that for a variety of reasons had little interest in what the Internet had to offer before social networking sites. That social engagement is a huge driver, especially for non-elites. Also let's acknowledge that especially with the Armenian and Georgian languages, there is a script issue. Both languages are not simple to use on a computer and are even more challenging to use on a mobile device. At least with Azerbaijani, even if someone wants to write çox as "cox," it is fairly easily understood. Armenian and Georgian have their own Latinized alphabet that people have been using online for years, but it isn't as easy as the transition to Azerbaijani. But with social networking sites, people can engage with friends and family using whatever script they have available to them.

As far as differences and similarities between the 3 Caucasus states - there are certainly macro-level reasons for differences -- for example, telecommunications competition in Armenia and Georgia lowered prices earlier than in Azerbaijan. And the Armenian government has initiatives to subsidize computers.

Also the larger number of migrant workers from Armenia and Georgia means that more families may have technology in order to communicate with their migrant worker family member. Another factor is ruralness - rural families are less likely to own technology.

But what is puzzling to me, despite these reasons, is that Azerbaijan has significantly lower technology adoption than Armenia or Georgia, despite Azerbaijani households being, for the most part, better economically. For example, at the end of 2011, 40% of Armenian homes, 33% of Georgian homes, and 15% of Azerbaijani homes had a computer. In 2008 the 3 countries were at about the same percentage. In 2010, Armenia and Georgia took off (jumping to 28% and 20%), then this next big jump in 2011. Azerbaijani computer ownership has grown, but at small increases. And similarly, household Internet ownership took off in Armenia and Georgia in the same time period, but not in Azerbaijan. 35% of Armenian homes, 29% of Georgian homes, and only 11% of Azerbaijani homes have Internet (at the end of 2011). Again, this is a bit of a puzzle to me.

The number of Internet users overall has a similar discrepancy. In 2009, the percent of adults that had EVER used the Internet was 19% in Armenia, 24% in Azerbaijan, and 28% in Georgia. In 2010 Armenia had a huge jump to 31%, Azerbaijan stayed the same, and Georgia went up a bit to 31%. Then in 2011, Armenia went up 6 percent to 37%, Azerbaijan stayed the same, and Georgia went up to nearly half - 46%. So why is Azerbaijan remaining stagnant?

It is important to note that "ever" using the Internet is not a very good measure - I prefer looking at those that use at least weekly.

In 2009, the 3 Caucasus countries were about the same - Armenia at 10% of adults being weekly or daily users, Azerbaijan at 9% and Georgia at 14%. In 2010, Armenia more than doubled to 22%, Georgia increased 4% and Azerbaijan remained the same. Then last year Armenian weekly or greater Internet users was 30% of adults, Georgia was similar at 28%, yet Azerbaijan was only 13% of the adult population. A growth from 9% to 13% is barely statistically significant.

Part of the reason that there are so many less Internet users in Azerbaijan is a question of gender. There are no gender differences in Internet users in Armenia or Georgia, but in Azerbaijan, about three-quarters of frequent users are men. If there was no gender difference then the overall percentage of Azerbaijani Internet users would be higher. Trends: http://www.katypearce.net/cv/caucasus-ict-trends/

Question: As the internet audiences grow rapidly, security concerns are keeping pace. According to the recent Freedom House report, internet users in countries with repressive regimes face mounting challenges to their privacy. How should Azeri people protect themselves before turning on their computer?

Answer: People that are engaging in online dissent in Azerbaijan often say that they know that they are being watched anyway, so they often do not take special precaution. But certainly there are some things that people can do -- using the secure form of sites like Facebook or Twitter. Placing second-level passwords on these sites as well as GMail is a good idea. There are systems like TOR that allow for much safer Internet surfing, but using such tools may also attract attention if there is any monitoring. You may be sending a red flag "I have something to hide!"

Interesting, a nation-wide study of Azerbaijan from earlier this year asked people how concerned they were about privacy online. Less than 6% of all Azerbaijanis were concerned about it.

Privacy is a culturally-dependent concept though. What an American understands privacy as is different from an Azerbaijani. I've noticed, for example, that many Azerbaijanis are open to "friending" people on Facebook whom they do not know. Americans do not tend to do this. Thus, privacy policies that are often designed with Americans and Western Europeans first may not work in an Azerbaijani context.

Question: What do you believe the West should do to help internet community and media in countries, like Azerbaijan?

Answer: I do not believe that the majority of people in the West have any idea about these issues.

However, since the Internet is a somewhat borderless space, what happens in one part of the Internet can impact other parts. This is also a freedom of expression issue. I think that many in the West have a simple notion that the Internet leads to democracy when in fact it is a much more complicated process. Furthermore, Western businesses that sell equipment that enable governments to monitor their citizens need to be more heavily critiqued

Alakbar Raufoglu

11/23/2012

Washington