Milli Majlis commission issues statement on hybrid attacks against Azerbaijan
Baku, October 16, AZERTAC
“The emergence of our state as a middle power under the wise leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, along with its resolute foreign policy, steadily growing international standing, contribution to international energy security, strategic importance in regional transit corridors and domestic political and economic stability, has significantly increased the scale of hybrid attacks by external actors against Azerbaijan,” the Milli Majlis Temporary Commission against Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats said in a statement on hybrid attacks against Azerbaijan.
The statement reads: “Against the backdrop of ongoing wars and tensions in the region, Azerbaijan, often described as an island of stability, has recently faced religious and ideological provocations, coordinated information operations and cyberattacks on a scale and with a degree of synchronization not seen before.
Under the banner of various freedoms, the centuries-old national, spiritual and multicultural values and religious beliefs of our people are being targeted. Through harmful activity meant to erode the very notion of truth in society, ideologies alien to our people are presented as the right path.
Joint investigations with the relevant state bodies have established that influence operations, cyberattacks and terror-provocation intentions aimed at manipulating public opinion, polarizing society and undermining trust in state institutions are carried out by influence agents and covert organizations inside and outside the country. In the digital space, they are carried out by hacker groups, foreign media outlets, real and fake accounts, and bots.
We note with regret that hostile forces operating from the territory of friendly and neighboring countries inject their disinformation into digital platforms through channels that appear independent. They are trying to create ethnic, religious and political fault lines in our society. Their aim is to sow discord at home, turn citizens with differing views against one another, incite violence and weaken our state from within.
Using a method known as “computational propaganda,” hybrid threat actors encourage people on media and social networks to seek out false information that supports their existing views, to believe it and to spread it to others. The goal is to confuse public opinion and deepen fragmentation in society.
Algorithm-driven content sharing creates an “echo chamber” effect, so that users encounter only information that mirrors their existing beliefs, views and worldviews. Posts designed to provoke emotional reactions among our citizens are pushed to wide audiences by the algorithms of digital platforms.
In addition, the “filter bubble” mechanism means harmful content reaches only those audiences that are already receptive to it and have already come under influence in a particular direction. This increases the effectiveness of manipulation geometrically. In this environment, these actors do not resort to classical propaganda methods. They use the platforms’ own infrastructure to promote alien values, undermine national stability and tear our society apart from within.
Monitoring has also established that, despite the scale of these insidious activities conducted from certain centers, our Victorious People have held a firm position. They have not fallen for the provocations, have unequivocally supported the steps taken by the state, and continue to provide the assistance needed to expose divisive content and individuals.
We declare once again that the Commission against Foreign Interference and Hybrid Threats, the relevant committees and structural units of the Staff of the Milli Majlis, and the competent state bodies are successfully repelling these dirty hybrid attacks against our state. They will not leave any future attack unanswered.
The Commission also expresses its deep gratitude to citizens of friendly and neighboring countries who condemn these anti-Azerbaijan activities for their fair stance.”
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