The platform for sending trains to not so distant places

My personal opinion, formed as a result of many years and continuing today the policy of the state to suppress freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, familiarization with the content of the law, observation of illegal methods, methods and ways of adopting the law.

The law is aimed not only at strengthening control over the media, but also over the entire information community of Azerbaijan. It contains hidden norms that sharply limit the information rights and initiatives provided by the Constitution to any citizen of the country, from the president to the unemployed. The bill, which accumulates the law on the media and on television and radio broadcasting, sharply limits the obligations of media workers to society. And these laws quite clearly and article by article require objective, balanced, truthful, pluralistic coverage of events, processes, opinions about the media and journalists.

On December13, at a meeting with Zahid Oruj, the head of the parliamentary committee on human rights, executive director of the Media Development Agency Ahmed Ismailov, chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (NCRTB) Ismet Rajabov, I asked the question: How can the state talk about the need to adopt a new law, justifying this a new situation, meaning the development of the digital information community and digital information relations, when it suppresses the free exchange of information using hidden censorship (it is used through bribery and repression). I'll make a reservation. In fact, there is no written accompanying justification for the need to pass the Media Law.

I gave the example of the "Terter case", which is the number one informational interest of the entire community, and not only of Azerbaijan. Coverage of this not far-fetched, but a real tragic story, which is important for the level of national security, is carried out only through the resources of non-governmental private information initiatives and non-governmental media. Not a single TV and radio company, nor state and controlled media outlets say anything about this case. This small example of a socially significant topic shows how much the state controls the media in Azerbaijan. And in such conditions, can we talk about the sincerity of the state in its intentions to improve and develop the information space and information relations in Azerbaijan?

My interlocutors declined to answer directly.

In my opinion, the media bill has the following objectives:

First, to 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. When I asked Ahmed Ismailov whether the concept of a single certificate means that the media outlet's own identity card would not be valid, he replied that no. The media certificate remains valid. Then what are the benefits of a single identity? We are looking at the draft law: the right to free visits to museums, coverage of public events, actions, accreditation. Then the question arises, how often our journalists cover museum exhibitions, and does this mean that a media employee with his/her official ID will not have the right to cover actions, events, or undergo accreditation. It is not known whether only the owner of a single identity card or an employee with a media identity card will have this right. Will citizens have the right to cover mass events, to which they have a constitutional right?

Secondly, to deprive citizens of exercising their constitutional right of 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. If you follow the spirit of this law, then all owners of pages on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, etc. fall under the law and are prohibited from distributing text, audio and visual information.

The very name of the Media Law was not taken by the compilers by chance. In the Western community, media carries a broad meaning and encompasses various ways of expression - material (architectural, visual, etc.), intangible (informational, etc.). Mass media are only part of the media space and they have a clear definition of Mass media, which means media in translation.

So what is this media law about? It is comparable to a Trojan horse. Its 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 curtain of the media. If the state means only media by the word media, then the law should indicate that in the Republic of Azerbaijan the word media means media. You also need to define the concept of media.

In the Article 1 "Basic concepts" there is a false interpretation of the concept of mass information, which makes the entire structure of the law unreasonable.

Here is what the drafters wrote in the basic concepts of the bill:

1.1.1. mass information - information published and (or) published by media subjects in order to bring it to an unlimited number of persons, access, transmission, production and distribution of which are not limited by the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan;

That is,  the talk is about the meaning of the concept of mass information, but about the method of its production, distribution, addressee, and moreover, here the exclusive right to produce mass information is granted only to media subjects. Who are the subjects of the media - is it the information community as a whole or just the media?

In fact, this paragraph of the article of the law should contain the following:

1.1.1. mass information is information circulating at the level of the mass consciousness of society. It can be produced and distributed by an individual and a legal entity in accordance with the provision of the Constitution.

That is, information that has assumed a mass character, spread among a certain number of people, is mass information. Meaning: whether it was produced by one or more persons, a legal entity or an unregistered entity, it no longer matters.

This is followed by the following provisions:

1.1.2. media - the media used to carry out periodical or regular publication and (or) dissemination of mass information, as well as the information environment formed through them;

1.1.3. media subject - an individual (with the exception of journalists) or a legal entity whose main activity is the publication and (or) dissemination of mass information;

These provisions are vague and contradictory. It can be a tool and a means of transmitting information space, that is, an information environment.

It follows from these provisions that any person who is regularly engaged in the production and dissemination of information is a subject of the media, that is, the subject of this law, regardless of whether this activity is professional or amateur. Today, as a professional journalist, I produce less media than many non-journalistic participants in the information space.

And now the Article 3. Scope of this Law.

3.1. This law applies to media entities created on the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic, editorial offices, their products, as well as to all media entities located outside the Azerbaijan Republic and whose activities are aimed at the territory and population of the Azerbaijan Republic, media products created outside the Azerbaijan Republic, distributed only on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as to journalists.

3.2. The provisions of this Law do not apply to:

3.2.1. to information published by persons who are not media subjects (with the exception of journalists);

3.2.2. to correspondence (correspondence) sent by users to each other using information technology, with the exception of the dissemination of mass information.

Here, paragraph 3.1 is about the desire and readiness of the state to technically block all information streams of broadcasting to Azerbaijan from abroad, it does not matter whether the subject of the dissemination of mass information is a legally operating professional or amateur media, or a separate information initiative. In fact, all these subjects of the media and initiatives are introduced into the field of jurisdiction of this national law.

Clause 3.2.1 states that it applies to journalists. But if a journalist outside the editorial office outside his resource expresses an opinion of mass significance, does this mean that he falls under the law as a violator? Legally, yes.

And now the most important thing. Clause 3.3.2 indicates that information disseminated between more than two individuals is massive. Thus, following the logic of the compilers, any person who disseminated information on Instagram, Facebook, etc. falls under this law and belongs to the media.

Thus, following the logic, it does not matter who you are - the president or the unemployed, what means you use - a page on Facebook, on YouTube. And if you are also a distributor of mass audiovisual information, which in the law is veiledly called a platform, then you should expect that someday your train will set off from this platform to not so  distant places. This is the essence, meaning and spirit of the law.

P.S. These are just some of the claims that I am entitled to.

Best regards, Mehman Aliyev