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.
