Border tensions reveal new problems on media field: Expert

 

 

 

The recent escalation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has revealed new problems on the Armenian media field, information security expert Samvel Martirosyan told a press conference today. This reminds him of a situation leading to the 2013 elections, when a huge number of websites with no owner and no journalists started disseminating misinformation and black PR, but disappeared after the elections.

According to the expert, the main objective is to attract visitors to the website to boost traffic.

“They started by posting ‘innocent’ materials, but started disseminating absurd information, when tensions increased. Those are mostly articles and videos raising panic,” Samvel Martirosyan said.

“Perhaps, the situation forces to implement censorship, which is a negative phenomenon and will work for the benefit of the society for two weeks only. Moreover, officials may use it to bloc anti-corruption materials,” he added.

The expert suggests applying ‘self-regulatory techniques’ to solve the problem. He also recommends to ignore websites, where every second article starts with the word “Urgent.”

Martirosyan warned that Azerbaijanis are creating fake Armenian websites to spread false information.

“More and more Azerbaijanis are ‘migrating’ to Armenian websites, aware that they will not find the truth in their media outlets,” the expert noted.

He concluded that any information published by media leaves a great psychological impact on the society. Therefore, before posting any news, it’s necessary to check the sources.