Press release / Communiqué de presse

Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the sudden escalation in cyber-censorship by the Tajik government. Since 2 March, a dozen local Internet Service Providers have received orders to block access to the social network Facebook and four independent news websites.

“A year and a half after the last episode of this kind, the Tajik authorities have gone back to large-scale cyber-censorship,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This major blocking initiative is as inacceptable as it is absurd.”

For the most part, it has been impossible to access Facebook, the Russian geopolitical analysis site Polyarnaya Zvezda (Polar Star), the Tajik exile political news site Tjknews.com, the Uzbek news site Maxala.org and the Central Asian news site Centrasia.ru since the morning of 3 March.

State telecommunications chief Beg Zukhurov denied on 5 March that any orders had been given to ISPs and blamed “technical problems.” But the local press obtained a copy of a letter signed by Zukhurov’s deputy which was received by the main ISPs and which told them to “block access” to these five sites “in connection with preventive technical work (LINK).”

According to the information obtained by Reporters Without Borders, Poliarnaya Zvezda was the first site to be blocked, on the evening of 2 March. This tends to support the theory of several commentators that the cyber-censorship was prompted by an article on this site entitled “Tajikistan on the eve of a revolution” that was very critical of President Emomali Rakhmon’s government.

It is thought that the other sites were blocked when they, too, posted the offending article. Central Asia’s leading Russian-language news website, Fergananews, has meanwhile been surprised to learn that it has also been partially blocked in Tajikistan for several days.

The blocking of Facebook is especially absurd as it has only 35,000 users, far fewer than the Russian-language social networks Moy Mir and Vkontakte, which have 150,000 and 100,000 respectively.

The ruling People’s Democratic Party meanwhile announced yesterday that it plans to launch an alternative social network. The plan is reminiscent of the Uzbek government’s recent creation of Muloqot.uz, a national social network that is monitored and expurgated.

Generalized content filtering and attempts to move Internet users to “national” social networks are spreading alarmingly in Central Asia. So is the idea that the Internet should be carved up into national segments that are subject to locally-determined norms in the name of “security” and “local values.”

Tajikistan submitted a proposal for an “Internet code of good conduct” to the United Nations on 23 September. Supported by China, Russia, and Uzbekistan, it basically aims to subject the free flow of information to local standards and government imperatives.

http://en.rsf.org/tajikistan-facebook-and-four-news-websites-08-03-2012,42043.html

New York, March 7, 2012—Authorities in Tajikistan must immediately lift the order blocking domestic access to several news websites and Facebook, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On Friday, the Tajik state communications agency ordered local Internet providers to block access to Facebook and the independent news websites Zvezda, Maxala, CentrAsia, and TjkNews, according to news reports. The agency cited scheduled technical maintenance although it did not explain why it would need to shut down these particular websites, the independent regional news website Ferghana News reported.

Reuters reported that the authorities issued the order the day after Zvezda published a political commentary, headlined «Tajikistan on the eve of revolution,» which TjkNews and CentrAsia republished shortly after. It is unclear if Maxala was targeted for similar reasons. The article covered a recent meeting in which Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon allegedly ordered security services to increase surveillance of local religious groups and members of the Islamic Party of Tajikistan, news reports said. The article also criticized Rahmon for growing authoritarianism, inattention to government corruption, and increasing poverty, CPJ’s review of the articles found.

Minutes of Rahmon’s meeting were also posted on Facebook, which spurred several public comments, before access to the social networking site was blocked, Radio Ozodi, the Tajik service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported.

«We call on officials to immediately restore access to Facebook and to news websites Zvezda, Maxala, CentrAsia, and TjkNews,» CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. «Rahmon’s administration should tolerate the criticism and scrutiny that come with holding public office, and stop censoring critical media.»

One local Internet provider told independent news website Asia-Plus that when it resisted the order, state Internet and communications company Tajiktelekom cut its service. The provider, which asked Asia-Plus not to reveal its name, eventually blocked access to the websites in exchange for restored service.

In a statement published Tuesday, Tajikistan’s Internet Providers’ Association condemned the censorship order and urged authorities to drop it, Radio Ozodi reported.

http://www.cpj.org/2012/03/tajikistan-orders-internet-providers-to-block-webs.php

The Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has called on Tajikistan to reverse instructions to block social-networking website Facebook and four independent news websites.

Access to the world’s most popular social networking site and Russian-language sites centrasia.ru, tjk.news.com, zvezda.ru, and maxala.org has been cut off since March 3, apparently in response to an order from the state communications agency.

The OSCE described the move as a «worrying development.»

Tajik officials have cited «technical reasons» for the problem and pledged that it would be corrected «soon.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/osce_tajiks_reverse_ban_facebook_news_websites/24508122.html

Officials in Tajikistan are heaping new confusion onto the ongoing shutdown of Facebook. While users triumphantly explain to each other how to access the site through proxy servers, a group close to President Emomali Rakhmon has suggested that Tajikistan should build its own social network to promote “the ideals and national values of the Tajik people.”

The state agency in charge of IT and telecommunications has claimed the March 2-3 block – condemned by a Tajik Internet lobby and US-based Freedom House – is “temporary” and for “prophylactic maintenance.”

Internet service providers have said they were ordered to block Facebook last weekend, along with three or four news portals, by the state Communications Service, after one of the portals published an article severely criticizing Rakhmon and his government. When queried by news agency Asia-Plus, the head of the service, Beg Zukhurov, denied any order to block Facebook, but said the authors of offensive online content “defaming the honor and dignity of the Tajik authorities” should be made “answerable.” Tajikistan frequently uses libel cases and extremism charges to silence critical journalists.

Zukhurov promised to restore the Facebook connection “soon.” (Meanwhile, what seems to be a copy of his order is circulating on – you guessed it – Facebook.)

Now, the head of the youth wing of the president’s party says his organization has decided to build its own Facebook for Tajikistan.

«On the website that’s being created preference will be given to the ideals and national values of the Tajik people, and it will serve as a platform for Tajik youth to exchange opinions,» the chairman of the People’s Democratic Party’s youth wing, Adham Mirsaidov, told Asia-Plus.

That might remind some readers of Uzbekistan, where the government launched its own tightly controlled social-networking platform last September. But even Uzbekistan, which has blocked hundreds of websites including the Uzbek-language version of Wikipedia, allows Facebook to function.

Asia-Plus readers seemed uninspired by the idea of a Tajik “Facebook” controlled by the governing party. To Mirsaidov’s search for funding, one wrote to ask why someone in impoverished Tajikistan should spend money on a new web platform when there already exists a successful one that has connected people all around the world.

George Camm, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65097

DUSHANBE — Two rights groups have condemned Tajikistan’s state communications service for blocking Tajik users’ access to social-network website Facebook and several independent news sites.

Facebook and the Russian-language sites centrasia.ru, tjk.news.com, and zvezda.ru on March 6 remained blocked in Tajikistan.

Access has been cut off since March 3, apparently in response to an order from government authorities.

Tajikistan’s Internet Service Providers Association denounced the move as a «direct threat» to Tajik national information security, according to the Tajik Civil Internet Policy Initiative’s website.

U.S.-based Freedom House has also condemned the Tajik government for regularly restricting access to websites critical of the government.

Tajik officials have cited «technical reasons» for the loss of access to the sites and pledged that the reported problem would be corrected «soon.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik_groups_condemn_blocking_of_facebook_news_websites/24506665.html

The Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists is now accepting applications from professional journalists from developing countries for its 2012 fellowship program. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 30, 2012.

The fellowships are available to radio, television, print and web journalists, age 25 to 35, from developing countries who are interested in coming to New York to report on international affairs during the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The fellowships will begin in early September and extend to late November and will include the cost of travel and accommodations in New York, as well as a per diem allowance.

The fellowship program is open to journalists who are native to one of the developing countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean, and are currently working full-time for a bona fide media organization in a developing nation. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in and commitment to international affairs and to conveying a better understanding of the United Nations to their readers and audiences. They must also have approval from their media organizations to spend up to two months in New York to report from the United Nations. Click here for full eligibility criteria and documentation requirements and the fellowship application form.

In an effort to rotate recipient countries, the Fund will not consider journalist applications for 2012 from nations selected in 2011: China, Ethiopia, India and Nigeria. Journalists from these countries may apply in 2013.

Four journalists are selected each year after a review of all applications. The journalists who are awarded fellowships are given the incomparable opportunity to observe international diplomatic deliberations at the United Nations, to make professional contacts that will serve them for years to come, to interact with seasoned journalists from around the world, and to gain a broader perspective and understanding of matters of global concern. Many past fellows have risen to prominence in their professional and countries. The program is not intended to provide basic skills training to journalists, as all participants are media professionals.

Questions about the program, eligibility and application process can be directed to fellowship(at)unjournalismfellowship.org.

http://www.scholarshipwarrior.com/2012/02/29/united-nations-journalism-fellowships-for-developing-co