Azerbaijani authorities have blocked access to OC Media, an independent regional news website, in the latest restriction of non-state media in the country.
Readers across Azerbaijan reported being unable to access the Tbilisi-based English-language platform without a Virtual Private Network (VPN) since early June. The outlet said its traffic from the country had dropped sharply following the restriction.
The Azerbaijani government has not commented on the block or provided an official reason for the move.
OC Media, which was founded in 2017, covers politics, human rights, and social issues across Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Robin Fabbro, the editor-in-chief of OC Media, said the block was “long expected” given what he described as Baku’s growing intolerance of independent reporting.
“This is a blow to us,” Fabbro said. “But the fact that the Azerbaijani government considers our reporting dangerous shows that journalists still have the power to hold those in power to account.”
He added that he was confident the site’s readers in Azerbaijan were already familiar enough with VPNs and censorship-circumvention tools to continue accessing their coverage.
The Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) condemned the blocking, describing it as another step in the systematic suppression of independent voices in Azerbaijan.
Baku began systematically blocking critical news websites in May 2017, when a court order restricted access to several major independent outlets, including Meydan TV and the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Access to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is also restricted in the country.
Press freedom in Azerbaijan has declined further in recent years. In February 2022, President Ilham Aliyev signed a restrictive media law establishing a state-run registry for journalists, a move widely criticised by local and international media watchdogs.
Dozens of journalists and media workers have been detained or prosecuted in Azerbaijan over the past year as part of an escalating crackdown on independent journalism.
The Azerbaijani authorities deny that the arrests are politically motivated, maintaining that the individuals held are accused of ordinary criminal offences unrelated to their professional activities.