Azerbaijan's Press Council adds AI principle to journalists' ethics code

Azerbaijan's Press Council (Mətbuat Şurası) added a new principle on artificial intelligence to the Code of Ethical Conduct for Azerbaijani Journalists, adopted unanimously at the 9th Congress of Azerbaijani Journalists in Baku on 16 October 2026, APA reported. Deputy Chairman of the Press Council Mushfig Alasgarli said the code's five existing principles are being extended with a sixth on artificial intelligence, according to APA. Trend.az covered the same congress, held at the Rashid Behbudov Song Theatre; Report.az, reporting the same remarks, described the sixth principle as still in preparation.

What the principle requires

• Media organisations must adopt internal documents setting out rules for using AI systems in their newsrooms, specifying the purposes and limits of use, verification procedures and editorial responsibility, according to APA.
• AI use "mustn't replace a journalist's initiative and judgment, editorial independence, or human oversight," Alasgarli said, according to Trend.az. A human journalist must verify AI-assisted content, its factual accuracy and its sources before publication, and responsibility for published material stays with the journalist and the editorial office.
• Content that could mislead audiences — AI-generated photos, audio or video — "must be appropriately labeled," with the audience told of its origin, APA reported.
• AI use must also respect copyright, the confidentiality of personal data and sources, human dignity and non-discrimination, according to APA.

Why it matters

This is a sector-level, self-regulatory step by the journalists' own professional body, not a binding state rule, but it is one of the first written AI-specific rules of conduct adopted by an Azerbaijani professional sector. It gives newsrooms a reference point for labelling AI-generated material and keeping a human check on AI output before anything runs.

What it means for Azerbaijani institutions

Azerbaijan's Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025–2028, approved by presidential decree and reported by Trend.az on 19 March 2025, lists among its objectives "establishing ethical principles and rules for the use of AI" as part of building AI foundations into national legislation. The Press Council's new principle runs in that direction at sector level, ahead of any state-level AI ethics rule for media. For Azerbaijani newsrooms and AI-tool vendors serving them, it signals that labelling and human-verification requirements for AI-assisted content are now part of the industry's own ethics code, even though they carry no legal penalty on their own.