The authorities lost to social networks - Bakhtiyar Hajiyev

Baku / 09.01.19 / Turan: The only platform for freedom of expression in Azerbaijan is social networks, said public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in an interview with the Azerbaijani service of Voice of America.

According to him, the new charge against the blogger Mehman Huseynov caused heated discussions in social networks, since the new accusation against the blogger in prison is obviously implausible and as if mobilized users.

"If in the first days of the hunger strike of Mehman Huseynov, 10-15 people wrote about this, in the following days hundreds and thousands of users joined the process," said Hajiyev.

Another reason for the increased attention to the case of Huseynov is the growing degree of tension in society. The society responds to the desperate step of a young man who, in protest against slander, goes on a hunger strike, putting his life at risk. All this has activated the opposition and civil society, forcing the authorities to respond.

"This shows that the government is concerned about the reaction of society," said Hajiyev.

The social networks are the only sphere not under the control of the authorities, and the government is making efforts to change public opinion. However, this is done very unprofessionally, said Hajiyev.

Commenting on the use of trolls to neutralize government criticism, he noted that such methods are everywhere. Large companies resort to this to form a positive public opinion about themselves.

In Azerbaijan, the troll factory is not very professional and is managed primitively. The average user, going to the profile of a troll after 5 seconds, understands where he went. When you see that this is a troll who writes a comment not on the topic, but for the sake of statistics, it causes irritation.

Therefore, all the efforts of the government are helpless if several respected and well-known users prove false and easily change public opinion, Hajiyev said.

Social networks have become a platform where opposition, carriers of alternative opinions have an advantage over the government. This is an indicator that the government in social networks definitely loses to civil society.

There are several TV channels on the Internet and watching them on youtube and facebook many times exceeds online TV, on which the government spends millions, summed up Hajiyev. -06D--