Tweet
SLATE: AZERBAIJAN HAS A LONG HISTORY OF MEDIA CENSORSHIP
Panorama.am
14/05/2012
In the end of this May, Azerbaijan will host the Eurovision Song
Contest - an event, watched by hundreds of millions - many of whom will
be seeing Azerbaijan for the first time. Azerbaijan's government has
spent more than $700 million on promotion and infrastructure in order
to put its best image forward. But as the world discovers Azerbaijan,
the Azerbaijani government is doing its best to keep its citizens
from connecting with the world, says the Web-based American magazine
"Slate."
"Over the past few years, the Azerbaijani government has waged an
aggressive media campaign against the Internet. Social media has
become synonymous with deviance, criminality, and treason. Television
programs show '~Qfamily tragedies'~R and '~Qcriminal incidents'~R
after young people join Facebook and Twitter," the article says.
In March 2011, the chief psychiatrist of Azerbaijan proclaimed
that social media users suffer mental disorders and cannot maintain
relationships. In April 2012, the Interior Ministry linked Facebook
use with trafficking of woman and sexual abuse of children. Since May
2011, the Azerbaijani parliament has been debating laws to curtail
social media, citing the deleterious effect on society. Social media
has become a vital political issue despite the fact that 78 percent
of Azerbaijanis have never used the Internet, only 7 percent go
online daily, and just 7 percent-almost all male, highly educated,
and wealthy-use Facebook.
Azerbaijan has a long history of media censorship, "Slate" writes.
During the Soviet era, media were state-controlled, and dissidents
faced harsh penalties for publishing political works, but little
changed when Azerbaijan became independent in 1991. Almost all media
outlets are owned or controlled by the state. The few opposition
journalists face harassment, physical violence, imprisonment, and
even death.
"Most authoritarian states treat the Internet the same way they do
print media: They censor it. Azerbaijan has taken a more insidious
route. They do not heavily filter or block the Internet but instead
leave it open, allowing the government to better monitor and punish
rebellious activities," authors of the article write, noting that
in 2010, two online activists were arrested for posting a video
satirizing government waste on YouTube. Their case was never mentioned
in Azerbaijan's print media-but was relentlessly showcased online,
where it frightened the bloggers' peers. As a result, Azerbaijan's
frequent Internet users became less supportive of activism, and online
dissent has quieted.
However, "Slate" notes, after the events in Tunisia and Egypt in early
2011, the Azerbaijani government decided to adopt a more aggressive
strategy to shield regular citizens from discussions of dissent or
collective action. Azerbaijan has moved from intimidating users who
are already online to keeping the rest of the nation offline by making
social media use seem like a form of bad citizenship.
To see how successful Azerbaijan's anti-social media campaign has been,
one need only to compare Azerbaijan to its more democratic neighbors
- Georgia and Armenia. Azerbaijan trails far behind in Internet
use despite the fact that the cost of an Internet connection and a
computer is roughly the same in all three countries. In Armenia and
Georgia, 20 percent use the Internet daily, but in Azerbaijan, it is
only 7 percent. In Armenia and Georgia, 40 percent and 33 percent
of households have computers, but in Azerbaijan, only 15 percent
have them. In Armenia and Georgia, 35 percent and 29 percent of
households have Internet at home, while only 11 percent of Azerbaijani
households do.
Besides, the framing of the Internet as a dangerous place has made men
hesitant to allow their wives and daughters access. As a result, only
14 percent of Azerbaijani women have ever used the Internet. More than
70 percent of Internet users, as well as Facebook users, are men. The
women who are online are often constrained: It is not uncommon for
young brides to give their Facebook passwords to their husbands
for monitoring.
"Slate" notes that as the world spotlight shines on Azerbaijan,
citizens find themselves increasingly in the dark-and not only in
terms of the internet. On May 1 of this year, the government banned
foreign television broadcasting, as "foreign television series often
contradict our mentality" and may expose Azerbaijanis to new ideas.
The potential of the Internet as a place to learn, explore, create,
and communicate is unfulfilled-instead, it is yet another thing
citizens are told to fear, the publication says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Panorama.am
14/05/2012
In the end of this May, Azerbaijan will host the Eurovision Song
Contest - an event, watched by hundreds of millions - many of whom will
be seeing Azerbaijan for the first time. Azerbaijan's government has
spent more than $700 million on promotion and infrastructure in order
to put its best image forward. But as the world discovers Azerbaijan,
the Azerbaijani government is doing its best to keep its citizens
from connecting with the world, says the Web-based American magazine
"Slate."
"Over the past few years, the Azerbaijani government has waged an
aggressive media campaign against the Internet. Social media has
become synonymous with deviance, criminality, and treason. Television
programs show '~Qfamily tragedies'~R and '~Qcriminal incidents'~R
after young people join Facebook and Twitter," the article says.
In March 2011, the chief psychiatrist of Azerbaijan proclaimed
that social media users suffer mental disorders and cannot maintain
relationships. In April 2012, the Interior Ministry linked Facebook
use with trafficking of woman and sexual abuse of children. Since May
2011, the Azerbaijani parliament has been debating laws to curtail
social media, citing the deleterious effect on society. Social media
has become a vital political issue despite the fact that 78 percent
of Azerbaijanis have never used the Internet, only 7 percent go
online daily, and just 7 percent-almost all male, highly educated,
and wealthy-use Facebook.
Azerbaijan has a long history of media censorship, "Slate" writes.
During the Soviet era, media were state-controlled, and dissidents
faced harsh penalties for publishing political works, but little
changed when Azerbaijan became independent in 1991. Almost all media
outlets are owned or controlled by the state. The few opposition
journalists face harassment, physical violence, imprisonment, and
even death.
"Most authoritarian states treat the Internet the same way they do
print media: They censor it. Azerbaijan has taken a more insidious
route. They do not heavily filter or block the Internet but instead
leave it open, allowing the government to better monitor and punish
rebellious activities," authors of the article write, noting that
in 2010, two online activists were arrested for posting a video
satirizing government waste on YouTube. Their case was never mentioned
in Azerbaijan's print media-but was relentlessly showcased online,
where it frightened the bloggers' peers. As a result, Azerbaijan's
frequent Internet users became less supportive of activism, and online
dissent has quieted.
However, "Slate" notes, after the events in Tunisia and Egypt in early
2011, the Azerbaijani government decided to adopt a more aggressive
strategy to shield regular citizens from discussions of dissent or
collective action. Azerbaijan has moved from intimidating users who
are already online to keeping the rest of the nation offline by making
social media use seem like a form of bad citizenship.
To see how successful Azerbaijan's anti-social media campaign has been,
one need only to compare Azerbaijan to its more democratic neighbors
- Georgia and Armenia. Azerbaijan trails far behind in Internet
use despite the fact that the cost of an Internet connection and a
computer is roughly the same in all three countries. In Armenia and
Georgia, 20 percent use the Internet daily, but in Azerbaijan, it is
only 7 percent. In Armenia and Georgia, 40 percent and 33 percent
of households have computers, but in Azerbaijan, only 15 percent
have them. In Armenia and Georgia, 35 percent and 29 percent of
households have Internet at home, while only 11 percent of Azerbaijani
households do.
Besides, the framing of the Internet as a dangerous place has made men
hesitant to allow their wives and daughters access. As a result, only
14 percent of Azerbaijani women have ever used the Internet. More than
70 percent of Internet users, as well as Facebook users, are men. The
women who are online are often constrained: It is not uncommon for
young brides to give their Facebook passwords to their husbands
for monitoring.
"Slate" notes that as the world spotlight shines on Azerbaijan,
citizens find themselves increasingly in the dark-and not only in
terms of the internet. On May 1 of this year, the government banned
foreign television broadcasting, as "foreign television series often
contradict our mentality" and may expose Azerbaijanis to new ideas.
The potential of the Internet as a place to learn, explore, create,
and communicate is unfulfilled-instead, it is yet another thing
citizens are told to fear, the publication says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress