The Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan has issued a statement.
According to **Modern.az**, the statement noted that the annual report for 2025 on the state of press freedom in Europe, published by the Council of Europe's Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, contained one-sided, biased considerations regarding Azerbaijan's media environment.
In particular, the approaches reflected in the report regarding the amendments made in 2025 to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Media” are speculative in nature.
The amendments to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Media” were put forward based on the recommendations, wishes, and proposals of society and the media community, with the main objective being to protect and improve our country's information environment, strengthen the media brand, enhance the prestige of professional journalists, increase sensitivity in state regulation, and ensure flexibility in the context of combating various negative phenomena in the information space, taking into account the demands of society.
One such speculative approach is also manifested in the views concerning print media entities. However, contrary to what is stated in the report, the relevant amendments include a provision on the impermissibility of using expressions in the names of media entities that contradict public order, morality, and ethics, or that may mislead users. This provision is widely applied in foreign and international practice and serves to protect users' rights regarding their expectations from the entity, as well as the brand value of media entities.
It should be noted that there are no restrictions on journalists' professional activities in Azerbaijan, and freedom of expression is fully guaranteed legally and practically in the country.
At the same time, we emphasize that all citizens in the Republic of Azerbaijan bear equal responsibility before the law, regardless of race, religion, origin, gender, ethnicity, or professional affiliation. Regarding the specific individuals mentioned in the report, we state that it is clear from the details of the publicly available case materials that there is no connection between their professional activities and the criminal and administrative charges brought against them, and that the relevant claims merely represent unsuccessful attempts at manipulation.
Furthermore, we note that the requirement for media entities to be duly registered and included in the Media Register applies to all media entities operating in the Republic of Azerbaijan, including branches and representative offices of foreign media entities, and the new approaches in this direction are essentially only streamlining in a technical and organizational sense.
When formulating the requirements for media entities to be included in the Register as information agencies, the results of the analysis of existing practice were taken as a basis, and the exceptional activity of information agencies in providing content not only to consumers but also to other professional media entities was taken into account.
Regarding the relevant material published on the Platform in 2024 concerning the current state of defamation legislation in our country, which is referenced in the report, we would like to remind that our position regarding the claims reflected in that material was officially communicated to the other party in the same year.
It is regrettable that when preparing such reports concerning Azerbaijan, the official position is not taken into account, and assumptions, subjective opinions, and considerations are prioritized over facts.
