Uzbekistan became the last authoritarian regime to ramp up its online censorship policy, with the responsible service of online information being given new powers to control the flow of data between Uzbek citizens and the outside world.
According to a source from the Uzbek Agency for Communications and Information, the new powers will enable the organization to restrict access to information publicly available, and track users who post adverse political messages on public forums. The restrictions are tame compared to the censorship that have been conducted levels in countries such as Iran and North Korea, but the increasing severity of the measures is an ominous sign of things to come for already more liberal countries on Asian continent.
figures high in the Uzbek government were adopting subtle measures online censorship since 07, with the Ministry of the information given these powers to tighten government control over the Internet and mobile operators. According to the wording of the new laws, the department will have the power to "conduct a systematic control of the national information space and media activities", which provides the power to block websites and foreign print media " threatening the integrity of the national information space. "
These new censorship powers are made more serious by another clause of the new law, which requires mobile operators and Internet to stop their networks" on first request of the authorities ", which makes worrying easier for the government to control the outbreak of the types of popular dissent first witnessed during the recent Arab spring.
With the powers that make the Internet less free and open space to share ideas and consume information, reliable VPN service is becoming a necessity to ensure access online and freedom of speech. Using a VPN service, web users in countries such as Uzbekistan are able to avoid certain restrictive measures adopted by their governments, while protecting the identity of those who may wish to persecute them.
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