Online safety & content laws in Azerbaijan (2026)
Online safety rules in Azerbaijan: heavy restriction.
Azerbaijan operates a state-directed internet restriction regime rated 'Not Free' by Freedom House in 2025, marked by systematic blocking of critical news websites, throttling of connections, and imprisonment of journalists for online content. The government leverages the 2022 Media Law and the Law on Information to mandate content removal and impose liability, while a new mass-surveillance platform (MİRAS), established by presidential decree in November 2025 and due fully operational by May 2026, consolidates citizen data from multiple agencies under the State Security Service with no judicial oversight. A separate February 2026 presidential decree introduced age-verification requirements for children on social media, mirroring measures adopted in Australia and France.
Legal framework
Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information; Media Law (2022); Law on Telecommunications; Presidential Decree on MİRAS Centralized Information and Digital Analytics System (November 2025); Presidential Decree on Children's Online Safety (February 2026), enforced by the Media Development Agency and the State Security Service
Key points: internet & online safety in Azerbaijan
Freedom House 'Not Free' Rating (2025)
Azerbaijan scored in the 'Not Free' category in Freedom House's Freedom on the Net 2025 report. The government routinely throttles connections and blocks websites critical of the government, including independent news outlets; scores declined further after courts sentenced journalist Matlab Baghirov to 12 years on fabricated charges.
MİRAS Mass Surveillance Platform
A presidential decree of November 2025 established the Centralized Information and Digital Analytics System (MİRAS) under the State Security Service, requiring ministries (health, justice, education, customs, internal affairs, etc.) to transfer their databases within six months, targeting full operability by May 2026. Human Rights Watch warned it lacks any judicial-authorization requirement or data-access safeguards.
2022 Media Law & Content Liability
The Media Law (adopted 30 December 2021, in force 8 February 2022) and the Law on Information, Informatization and Protection of Information together define prohibited online content, including offensive language and 'one-sided' reporting, and impose liability on outlets and platforms. The Media Development Agency may request courts to block non-compliant news sites.
Journalist Imprisonment & Website Blocking
Between November 2023 and May 2025, authorities imprisoned 25 journalists, the majority from online outlets, on fabricated smuggling and extortion charges. In February 2025 an appellate court ordered blocking of Anaxeber.info, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revoked accreditations for VOA, Bloomberg, and BBC Azerbaijani service. Azerbaijan ranked 167th of 180 countries in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
Children's Online Safety & Age Verification (2026)
President Aliyev signed a decree on 27 February 2026 directing the Cabinet of Ministers to draft legislation within three months introducing age-verification requirements for social media registration by minors, banning mobile devices in schools, and mandating digital-literacy curricula, explicitly modelled on Australian and French approaches.
OONI-Verified Censorship Infrastructure
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) measurements confirmed ongoing network-level blocking of multiple independent news and civil-society websites in Azerbaijan, corroborating Freedom House findings of state-directed technical censorship beyond mere legal takedown requests.
Timeline of decisions
- IncidentInternet Throttled During Imishli Local Protests
After a police car struck four children in Imishli, sparking street protests, authorities throttled internet access in the area and reportedly pressured residents to delete social media posts, the latest instance of Azerbaijan using connectivity disruption as a tool of domestic crowd control.
Freedom House
- DecisionState Media Registry Operational; Independent Outlets Denied Accreditation
The compulsory Media Registry established by the February 2022 Media Law opened for applications on 14 October 2022; multiple independent and opposition outlets were refused registration, effectively stripping them of legal status as media and barring them from employing journalists.
Azerbaijan Internet Watch
- IncidentTikTok Blocked During September 2022 Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Clashes
During renewed military operations on the Armenian border in September 2022, authorities blocked TikTok nationwide from mid-September through November 2022, establishing a now-repeated pattern of single-platform suppression during military operations.
Freedom House
- Law · officialPresident Signs Media Law Requiring State Registration of All Online Outlets
President Aliyev signed the new Law on Media on 8 February 2022, requiring all online news outlets to obtain state accreditation via the Azerbaijani Agency for Media Development before publishing; outlets denied registration lose legal standing as media. Press-freedom bodies and the Council of Europe condemned the law as incompatible with international standards.
Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor
- Incident46-Day Nationwide Internet Throttling During Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
Azerbaijani authorities throttled internet speeds and blocked major platforms, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Zoom, Skype, and Messenger, across the country for 46 days beginning 27 September 2020 during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, lifting restrictions only after the 10 November ceasefire; Access Now estimated economic losses of USD 243 million.
Access Now
- Law · officialParliament Amends Information Law to Penalise Online 'False Information'
Under the pretext of combating COVID-19 disinformation, parliament amended the Law on Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information on 17 March 2020 to require website owners to remove 'false information' endangering public health, safety, or infrastructure; the OSCE Media Freedom Representative warned the vague wording would be weaponised against independent reporting.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
- EnforcementGovernment Publicly Blocks Azadliq, Meydan.TV, and Other Independent News Sites
The Ministry of Communications ordered ISPs to block azadliq.info (RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service), azadliq.org, Meydan.TV, Turan TV, and other outlets, the first time the authorities openly acknowledged blocking websites, citing national-security threats; Baku courts formalised the orders in May 2017.
Freedom House
- LawParliament Amends Information and Telecommunications Laws to Codify Website-Blocking Powers
Amendments to the Law on Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information and the Telecommunications Law gave domestic courts explicit authority to order ISPs to block online content on national-security grounds without prior judicial approval, creating the statutory infrastructure immediately used to suppress independent media.
Global Voices Advox
Sources
- freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-net/2025
- hrw.org/news/2025/12/15/azerbaijans-surveillance-platform-risks-sweeping-priv
- en.apa.az/official-news/azerbaijan-establishes-centralized-information-and-digi
- azernews.az/nation/255035.html
- az-netwatch.org/news/president-signs-a-decree-on-age-restrictions-for-social-media-us
- csometer.info/updates/azerbaijan-brief-overview-new-media-law
- rm.coe.int/azerbaijan-analysis-of-legislation-on-freedom-of-expression-december-
- rsf.org/en/country/azerbaijan
- ooni.org/post/2023-azerbaijan-internet-censorship
- rsf.org/en/azerbaijan-tightens-media-law-point-absurdity-rsf-warns-informatio
Next for Azerbaijan: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026