Azerbaijani parliament adopts new norms to fight fake news

Azerbaijan's Parliament (Milli Majlis) has approved in final reading new norms aimed at preventing publication of false information in local media.

The draft of the relevant amendments to the law “On Media” was adopted at the July 14th meeting of the extraordinary session of the parliament, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

For the first time the law introduced the concept of "media entity" in relation to traditional media resources engaged in the production of mass information, which made it possible to clearly define the sphere of professional media.

According to the amendments, branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities operating in the media sphere of Azerbaijan will also be considered media entities.

Given the serious social demand, it was proposed to amend the law to strengthen the methods of combating fake news, which not only pollutes the information environment, but also affects the reputation of journalists. Thus, a provision on the inadmissibility of publishing (disseminating) false information is added to Article 14 of the law, which reflects the requirements for information.

It was emphasised that the public expects the state to take more decisive steps against media resources that abuse the name of a media entity, act contrary to media ethics and do not change their unprofessional image in public opinion. Based on this requirement and the state's information security principles, the amendments to the law will ensure that the Media Development Agency (MEDIA) will act promptly against cases of information pollution.

According to the proposed amendments, a news agency must have agreements on providing (receiving) information with at least 20 media entities, have accredited journalists in at least 5 foreign countries, and at least 80 per cent of the total volume of daily published mass information within 20 days of each month must be produced by the agency itself.

It was emphasised that various media entities have repeatedly approached MEDIA about cases of misuse of the name of the brand they created and have proposed serious measures in this regard.

Considering this factor, according to the proposed changes to the law, the names of media entities should not be identical or similar to the names of other editorial offices, and their names should not use expressions that are contrary to public order, morality and ethics, which may mislead users. This change will contribute to strengthening both the reputation and brand of media entities.