A global press freedom watchdog has warned that a proposed law to establish a media super-regulator in Azerbaijan will tighten state control over the country’s remaining independent digital spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament on 30 June 2026, would replace the existing Media Development Agency and the Audiovisual Council with a single entity called the Media and Broadcasting Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the reform would centralise regulation, funding, and journalist training under a single state body, effectively functioning as a resurrected “Information Ministry”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This bill does not create an independent regulator,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF\u2019s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said. “It completes the return of media to state control.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that with the country’s last independent journalists arrested, forced into exile, or working in secret, the authorities had chosen to gather all regulatory levers into their own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Azerbaijani government has justified the move as a necessary update to integrate print, broadcast, and digital media, citing the need to protect “national information security” and support the economic independence of the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, local experts cited by RSF argued the true purpose is to extend state authority over digital platforms such as YouTube, Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram, which have become vital sources of uncensored news for Azerbaijani citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critics compare the proposed body to the former Ministry of Press and Information, which was abolished in 2001 as part of reforms to liberalise the media market under international pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move comes amid a broader, long-running crackdown on independent journalism in the Caucasus nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since November 2023, Azerbaijani authorities have conducted a sweeping crackdown on independent media outlets that refuse to comply with state censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prominent platforms including Abzas Media, Toplum TV, and Meydan TV have seen their offices raided and staff arrested, alongside journalists from the US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty (RFE\/RL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to RSF, at least 25 journalists are currently detained in Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country ranks 171st out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, placing it among the most restrictive media environments in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A global press freedom watchdog has warned that a proposed law to establish a media super-regulator in Azerbaijan will tighten state control over the country’s remaining independent digital spaces. The bill, which is expected to be debated in parliament on 30 June 2026, would replace the existing Media Development Agency and the Audiovisual Council with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1047],"class_list":["post-31650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed","tag-editor"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31653,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31650\/revisions\/31653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irfs.org\/az\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}