Uzbekistan restricts access to Telegram, Facebook and Instagram

The Uzbek authorities included the social networks Telegram, Facebook and Instagram in the register of violators of the law “On personal data” and restricted access to them, informs Gazeta.uz. According to the newspaper, the State Inspectorate for Control in the Sphere of Informatization and Telecommunications (“Uzkomnazorat”) sent a notification to social networks on July 2. The regulator then sent a prescription on November 2 and restricted social media the following day.

In addition to Telegram, Facebook and Instagram, the register of lawbreakers includes Odnoklassniki, YouTube, LinkedIn, and My World.

In May, the Uzbek authorities demanded that Facebook, Google, Mail.ru Group, Skype, Telegram, WeChat, TikTok, Twitter and Yandex move the servers to the country in accordance with the Law on Personal Data.

On July 2, Uzbekistan restricted access to Twitter, TikTok, VKontakte and Skype due to “violation of legal requirements in the processing of personal data of citizens of the country.”

After the restrictions were imposed, residents of Uzbekistan began to report interruptions in the work of Twitter, TikTok, VKontakte and Skype. Media files are slow or not loading at all, they said.

In late October, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a law increasing fines for violating the Law on Personal Data from 1.3 to 1.89 million soums (almost $ 177) for individuals and from 2.7 to 13.5 million soums ($ 1,262 ) for officials.

Repeated violation of the law on personal data (either committed by prior conspiracy or out of mercenary motives) entails a criminal penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 54 million soums ($ 5,049) for officials. Changes to the Administrative and Criminal Codes will enter into force on January 30, 2022.