Round-table discusses disinformation and its impact on media

A round-table on "Growing Disinformation: Impact on the Media and Effective Response Strategies" was held at ADA University in Baku.

The event was attended by the OSCE Representative on Media Freedom Teresa Ribeiro, representatives of the Azerbaijani Media Development Agency (MEDIA), as well as heads of a number of media outlets in the country.

The chairman of the National Television and Radio Council (NTRC), Ismat Sattarov, said that the media law in Azerbaijan was adopted after extensive public discussions. He said that although the law was initially criticized on social media as a law "violating freedom of speech", after appropriate explanations, it turned out that this position was incorrect. Sattarov also spoke about the main principles that distinguish this law from the previous one.

According to Ahmad Ismayilov, Executive Director of MEDIA, the major purpose of the law On Media is to increase and develop the capacity of the media.

He said that freedom of the press, security of journalists, and other issues were discussed in the country with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro, and her team of experts.

Chairman of the Trade Union of Journalists Mushfig Alasgarli said that the new law speaks of increasing the professional knowledge of journalists and for the first time it pays attention to this issue.

In his speech, he also drew attention to the problem of disinformation by Armenia.