Azerbaijan approves fines for social media age restriction violations

Azerbaijan has established administrative fines for social media platforms failing to comply with age-restriction regulations and child protection requirements. President Ilham Aliyev signed amendments into the Code of Administrative Offences and related legislation on information protection.

Under the new regulations, social media providers failing to submit required information to the designated state authority will face fines ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 AZN for officials and 15,000 to 20,000 AZN for legal entities. Non-compliance with state authority requests within five business days will incur higher penalties of up to 30,000 AZN for corporate entities.

The legislation also mandates liability for platforms failing to implement age verification mechanisms, neglecting technical safeguards for users aged 16 to 18, or improperly using minors' personal data for commercial and targeted advertising purposes. Legal entities violating these terms face fines between 35,000 and 40,000 AZN, rising to 50,000 AZN for repeat offenses within a year.

The law will come into force 12 months after its official publication.

N.Tebrizli