Details added (first version posted at 11:46).
Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12
Trend:
Azerbaijan is one of the few countries in the region and the world that, in 1998, abolished the Ministry of Press and Information and clearly abandoned state regulation of the media, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan for Public and Political Issues Ali Hasanov said at the annual meeting of the World Association of Press Councils held in Baku, Trend reports.
Hasanov noted that as a result of the great importance attached by Azerbaijan to freedom of speech and expression at the state level, there are no restrictions on broadcasting transnational media in the country, citizens freely use such social networks as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram.
"Today, the media operating in Azerbaijan freely and independently investigate the events in society, the policies pursued by the state, as well as the processes taking place in the world, reflect on their pages the opinions of citizens, bringing them to the attention of the authorities. The media are free to collect any information, criticize or support the policies pursued by the authorities," Hasanov said while reminding the historical path that the Azerbaijani national press has traveled to the present.