On November 29, during the United Nations 17th session of the Forum on minority issues, the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) emphasizes the persistent marginalization of minorities in Azerbaijan’s traditional media. State-controlled narratives often stereotype minorities and exclude their authentic representation, with minority languages such as Talysh, Legizan, and Avar being absent from state-owned media due to the dominance of the Russian language. Minority-focused outlets also face chronic underfunding and lack of governmental support, limiting their ability to provide consistent coverage.
While social media offers minorities a platform to share their culture, language, and traditions with wider audiences, bypassing institutional controls, it also comes with significant challenges. Not only does online harassment, hate speech, and algorithmic biases that prioritize majority content often suppress minority voices, but political repression remains to be a critical risk. The latter can be demonstrated through the arrests of bloggers like Ruslan Vahabov, Aslan Qurbanov, and Elvin İsayev, who used these outlets to highlight minority issues :
The IRFS condemns such violations against the civil society and calls for the urgent and immediate release of these journalists that have played a crucial role in showcasing the diverse heritage and perspectives of minority communities.
“To improve the situation, we need to address funding issues, promote linguistic diversity and implement stricter policies against hate speech.”
Furthermore, social media platforms must tackle algorithmic biases and adopt transparent, equitable practices to amplify diverse voices. IRFS strongly urges Azerbaijan to foster a society where all individuals can freely exercise their rights without fear of discrimination or persecution.
“We strongly reiterate our call for Azerbaijan to fully respect the rights of all minorities, in strict adherence to its international obligations to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.”