Online safety & content laws in Armenia (2026)

Armenia's parliament gave final adoption to three linked laws, On Cybersecurity, On Public Information, and On the Regulatory Authority for Information Systems, establishing the country's first comprehensive statutory cybersecurity framework and an independent parliamentary-elected oversight body for information systems.

The Armenian government approved the legislative package comprising drafts on Cybersecurity, Public Information, and the Information Systems Regulatory Authority and forwarded it to the National Assembly, marking the executive branch's endorsement of Armenia's first dedicated cybersecurity legislation.

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry published Armenia's first standalone cybersecurity draft law for public comment through January 4 2024, proposing mandatory incident notification and security standards for critical-infrastructure operators in both the state and private sectors.

Armenia adopted a whole-of-government strategy to bolster state and private sector capacity to identify and counter false information online; critics noted the plan lacked targeted provisions for AI-generated content and deepfakes despite the growing threat.

Draft amendments to the Law on the Legal Regime of Martial Law would have granted authorities power to block websites, social media platforms, and apps, and to impose full or partial internet shutdowns during wartime, without judicial oversight or an appeals mechanism; the bill drew condemnation from Access Now, CPJ, and the #KeepItOn coalition and was never advanced to parliament.

Armenian mobile ISPs blocked TikTok for approximately one week amid the September 2022 border hostilities with Azerbaijan, citing risks of revealing military secrets and spreading misinformation; the block had no explicit legal basis under existing Armenian law, exposing a regulatory gap in content-restriction authority.

Armenia adopted a new Criminal Code (effective January 2022) containing Chapter 38, Crimes Against the Security of Computer Systems and Computer Data, explicitly criminalising hacking, illegal data interception, creation of malicious tools, and computer-related fraud in line with Budapest Convention obligations.

Armenia amended its 2015 data protection law to incorporate core GDPR principles including strengthened consent requirements and mandatory breach notification to both the Personal Data Protection Agency and law enforcement; maximum fines remained far below EU equivalents at 500,000 AMD.

Armenia passed its foundational digital privacy law (No. ZR-49), establishing the Personal Data Protection Agency, defining sensitive data categories, and setting legal bases for online and offline processing, the primary instrument governing personal data collected through digital services.

Amendments to the Law on Electronic Communication removed the requirement for ISPs to obtain an operating licence, replacing it with a simple prior-notification to the PSRC regulator; this liberalisation cemented Armenia's minimal-intervention approach to internet access and increased market entry for providers.

Armenia ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Cybercrime (CETS 185), committing to harmonise domestic criminal law on computer intrusion, illegal data interception, and related offences, and to cooperate with other parties on cybercrime investigations and extradition.

Armenia enacted its foundational telecommunications law, assigning regulatory authority over ISPs and network operators to the PSRC; crucially the law contained no mechanism for content blocking or internet-traffic monitoring, establishing a liberal online environment by legislative design.

Armenia enacted the Law on Freedom of Information, granting citizens and media the right to request and receive public records and establishing legal guarantees for free expression, widely praised by international observers as one of Armenia's most progressive statutes and foundational to an open online information environment.