Azerbaijan plans single regulator to oversee media and digital content

Azerbaijan plans to merge its two main media watchdogs into a single regulator with expanded powers to monitor online platforms and combat disinformation.

The proposed legislative changes, discussed by parliament’s Human Rights Committee, will amend the country's media and civil service laws to establish a new Media and Broadcasting Council.

The new body will absorb the roles of the Media Development Agency (MEDIA) and the Audiovisual Council, consolidating Azerbaijan’s regulatory oversight under one roof.

According to committee documents, the new council will not merely combine the two existing bodies, but will also assume wider supervisory powers.

Its responsibilities will include licensing, managing the state media registry, organising training programmes, and awarding state funding to media organisations.

The council will also be tasked with combatting disinformation and conducting "digital content analysis" across social media platforms.

The body's leadership, including its chairman, will be directly appointed by the executive branch.

Proponents of the merger argue that rapid digital transformation has blurred the boundaries between traditional print, television, and online media.

Government officials point to international models of consolidated media regulation, such as Ofcom in the UK and Arcom in France, as templates for the new Azerbaijani body.

Supporters say a "single window" administrative system will reduce bureaucratic overlap, speed up decision-making, and modernise the country’s security framework in the digital age.

However, independent journalists and media lawyers have raised concerns that the move will further centralise state control over an already highly regulated press.

Critics are particularly concerned by the council’s new mandate to monitor social media platforms and report alleged violations to law enforcement, warning this could extend state surveillance over the digital public square.

Media law expert Khalid Aghaliyev has previously criticised the country's strict Media Registry, which requires journalists to meet rigid criteria—such as holding a higher education degree and having three years of professional experience—to be officially recognised.

Aghaliyev and other legal analysts warn that placing these existing, controversial tools under a more powerful, unified regulator risks turning the new council into a centralized tool for censorship.

The proposed reforms come amid ongoing international scrutiny of Azerbaijan's media landscape.

A legal analysis by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) previously warned that the country's current media laws place severe restrictions on freedom of expression.

The Council of Europe has also repeatedly stressed that national broadcasting watchdogs must remain structurally and functionally independent from the government to ensure a pluralistic media environment.