Pashinyan Proposes Discussion on Ban of Anonymous Accounts on Social Media

It is necessary to discuss the possibility of a legislative ban on anonymous accounts on social networks. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this during the National Assembly session on August 24, while discussing the government's five-year program.

The initiative was made in response to a question from opposition 'Strong Armenia' faction member Harutyun Harutyunyan. Pashinyan, for his part, suggested that opposition factions work together with the authorities to create a working group to discuss a mandatory user identification mechanism on social networks.

“I suggest that the two opposition factions consider the possibility of creating a working group. If this is feasible, let us adopt a law that allows citizens of the Republic of Armenia to have an account on social networks only after undergoing the appropriate identification process,” the Prime Minister stated.

According to him, if a political consensus is reached, Armenia could start demanding that social platforms close the accounts of users who have not gone through passport identification.

“Let’s form a consensus and announce to social networks: 'Fake accounts are prohibited in our country. Therefore, start closing the accounts of those who have not been identified by passport. If you agree, we will adopt such a bill. Then we’ll see who is interested in fake accounts and who is not,’” the head of government noted.