BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. The Baku
Network Research and Analysis Public Union, with the support of the
State Support Agency for NGOs, held a meeting with students of the
Journalism Faculty of Baku State University (BSU) as part of the
"Promoting vigilance against harmful foreign influence and fake
news" project.
Trend Deputy Director and trainer-expert for the project Sahil
Karimli, and Chairman of the Baku Network Research and Analysis
Public Union and project head Elchin Aghajanov addressed the
meeting.
Sahil Karimli said the spread of false information remains a
relevant issue for Azerbaijan. According to him, inaccurate news
not only misleads individuals but is also used to influence
society's perception of certain events.
"Like all countries, Azerbaijan also suffers from fake news.
Information warfare against us has always involved false
information. No matter how much we fight against it, it is
impossible to completely eliminate the problem," he said.
Karimli said harmful information influence against Azerbaijan
continues even after the country's victory in the Second Karabakh
War and its policy based on national interests. He said such
information may be aimed at influencing young people's views and
creating confusion and provocations in society.
According to the trainer-expert, attempts are also being made to
harm Azerbaijan's relations with countries with which it maintains
good ties through fake news. Therefore, it is particularly
important for journalists to approach information responsibly and
assess its accuracy.
"This places a great responsibility on journalists," Karimli
said, adding that he also listened to students' views on
identifying false information and increasing vigilance against
it.
Elchin Aghajanov spoke about attempts to influence young
people's views. He said that, as young people are one of the
leading forces in society, they should remain vigilant against
those seeking to influence them with various ideas.
"Attempts to influence young people's views and suppress them
have always existed and will continue to exist. You are the main
driving force and hope of society," he said.
Aghajanov urged young people not to trust those seeking to
influence them by exploiting religious topics and to stay away from
extremism. He noted that it is important to remain vigilant when
encountering information, properly assess the views presented and
distinguish between the real picture of events and artificially
created information.
"The concept of a hybrid threat encompasses not only fake news
but also various methods of information manipulation," Aghajanov
said.
