Power hastily adopts regressive media law

Baku/18.12.21/Turan: On December 14, the Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan adopted in the first reading the draft law "On Media", which caused serious criticism from journalists and experts. The draft law "On Media" was prepared by the state this year behind closed doors. On December 14, about 70 media heads and deputies, mainly representing the interests of the authorities, took part in the parliamentary discussion of the document.

The bill drew sharp criticism from some journalists. 170 representatives of the Azerbaijani media reported this in the Assessment document distributed on December 15. The number of signatories is growing rapidly.

Director of Turan agency Mehman Aliyev, at a meeting with the head of the parliamentary committee on human rights Zahid Oruj, executive director of the Media Development Agency Ahmed Ismailov, chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (NSTRV) Ismet Rajabov, declared the inadmissibility of the bill, which carries the meaning of censorship, including licensing of Internet resources.

In the article "On a platform for sending a train to places not so distant" M. Aliyev noted the goals of the bill, which were outlined by its drafters:

- Strengthen state control over the media by introducing a single register, a single certificate, the state's right to issue licenses for the operation of an Internet platform (audiovisual content, Internet television), accreditation of journalists with the permission of an accrediting body, etc. The certificate from the media remains valid. M. Aliyev believes that under the new conditions, a media employee with his official ID will not have the right to cover actions, events, or undergo accreditation.

- To deprive citizens of exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression under the threat of the application of this law, which implies monitoring the manifestation of all information initiatives of citizens in the Internet space. It follows from the text of the document that the owners of Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube pages are also subject to the law and are prohibited from distributing text, audio and visual information.

"The hidden meaning gives the right to intervene and regulate the state in a wider segment of the information space and information relations. And in this bill, media and mass media concepts have been moved. That is, the idea of ​​exercising control over the information society of Azerbaijan is hidden behind the screen of the media," M. Aliyev.

On December 17, the scandalous bill was again "lowered" for discussion in parliamentary committees. Now in the second reading. At a joint meeting of the Milli Mejlis Committee on Human Rights and the Committee on Legal Policy and State Construction in the format of a video conference, Executive Director of the Media Development Agency (MEDİA) Ahmed Ismayilov.

He began by saying that journalists will receive social benefits and privileges, noting that this will happen after the adoption of the new law. Expressing an opinion about insignificant criticism in connection with the placement of advertisements in the media, he moved on to an important point of the bill - on the prohibition of covert filming by journalists. The head of MEDİA noted that the ban on covert filming does not apply to filming by media structures in parks, on the streets: “Covert filming means a hidden plan, audiovisual filming, and we are not talking about any restrictions on the activities of media subjects. It's just misunderstood. "

However, Ismailov's words raise new doubts. What does “hidden plan” mean, and how will the police who detained the journalist with a video camera determine what his plan was, filming the villa of, say, Ahmed Ismailov from the street?

The same dubious statement was made by the head of the committee, Zahid Oruj. At first, he surprised by saying that this law is being developed primarily for the people. That is, it should be understood that the interests of the media and journalists are in the second order or are not taken into account at all.

Oruj did not agree with the opinion of the critics of the draft law on the inconsistency of this document with international norms: “We hope that international organizations will also positively react to the law “On Media”.

Further, Oruj announced the following "reforms": "they are trying to accuse (us) the state of conservatism. The law contains the first stage of reforms in the media sphere ...".

He somewhat defused tensions by adding that the bill does not regulate the activities of bloggers. The law will only imply the activities of professional journalists.

But in the "next stages of reforms", legislators can go further and establish that journalists who do not have a single certificate issued by the Media Agency are amateurs, not professionals. And that means they are not allowed to shoot objects of interest to society ...

At the same meeting, the chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, Ismet Sattarov, announced the introduction of a new item into the bill. The new clause 30.8 will state that legal entities broadcasting audiovisual programs directly via the Internet will be able to obtain a platform broadcaster license only on the basis of their request.

Obviously, the ruling team is hastily working on the text of the bill, it is possible that the text will be changed in order to avoid criticism of European structures. But how deep will the document be processed?

Launching a campaign to hastily adopt the Media Law, it was said that it would enter into force on January 1, 2022, after being signed by the President. MP Erkin Gadirli said that the constitution gives the president 56 days to familiarize himself with the bill. There are 13 days left until January 1. Therefore, the adoption of the bill will take place in an emergency mode. — 0—