Azerbaijan fights back against malicious foreign influence on social media

Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Commission against Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats has issued a statement condemning ongoing unfriendly activities targeting the country’s information space, perpetrated through the Facebook platform from the territory of a neighbouring state.

According to the Commission, several Facebook pages—such as Echo of Baku, Azeri Horizon, Xəbər24, Merry You, Azerbaijan Pulse, Az Insight, among others—are engaged in deliberate attempts to manipulate public opinion and undermine the country’s successful domestic and foreign policy initiatives, Caliber.Az reports.

“For the purpose of geopolitical manipulation, information in Azerbaijani is posted on the Facebook platform, after which readers are urged to switch to platforms such as Telegra.ph, which in turn may lead to the interception of personal data (IP address, device used, etc.),” the statement warned.

The Commission reassured citizens that comprehensive measures are continually being implemented in close coordination with relevant government agencies to counter such information attacks. Notably, following an appeal to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, the Commission successfully secured the closure of the aforementioned pages engaged in anti-Azerbaijani activities.

By Vafa Guliyeva