Tajikistan blame censorship orders on complaints by citizens

In the last year, CPJ has documented a disturbing trend of attacks against the press in Tajikistan: the frequent blocking orders that the State Communications Agency has issued to local Internet service providers. Delivered in most instances via text message, the orders urge the ISPs to block nationwide access to local and international news websites that criticize President Emomali Rahmon and his authoritarian policies, and publicize issues like widespread government corruption and rising unemployment.

Last year alone, the orders were issued at least three times against several news websites and included sites like Facebook and YouTube. The head of the country's Internet Service Providers Association said publicly that the agency sent a text message to local ISPs, ordering them to block sites. In most instances, the orders were given by Beg Zuhurov, head of the State Communications Agency, local news reports said.
Most of the time, Tajik authorities deny their involvementand cite technical problems beyond their control. But in a rare November statement and, most recently, on Wednesday, Zuhurov and his colleagues at the agency identified another source of attacks. Facebook, Zuhurov said in November, was a "hotbed of slander" and had been blocked at the request of what he called a group of "concerned citizens." This was not a slip of the tongue-his deputy, Rafikjon Shokirov, mentioned the same group during his statement to the press on Wednesday.
Shokirov spoke at a press conference about the domestic growth of the Internet, Radio Ozodireported. He spoke of progress-Internet users in the country had increased to 3.7 million, reports said. But, while speaking about the numbers, the official inadvertently touched upon a dangerous subject.
Why was the agency blocking news websites, who gave the orders, and who was this group of unhappy citizens?, journalists asked him at the press conference.

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