Azerbaijan Accuses Blogger of Coup Attempt

It is humble-pie time for social media power skeptics. Azerbaijan has accused a Strasbourg-based Azerbaijani blogger, Elnur Majidli, of attempting to overthrow the government with that modern weapon of mass destruction, Facebook.

Majidli was among the organizers of a few recent rallies, heavily promoted on Facebook and scarred by scuffles with police, that apparently hit Azerbaijani officials as a throwback to demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa.

Several wired youth activists and opposition members have also been arrested or faced various forms of harassment in the past month.

Meanwhile, the government in Baku appears to have decided to fight fire with fire. Facing an onslaught of cyber-activism, both President Ilham Aliyev and the presidential administration have set up Twitter accounts to tweet back.