Uzbekistan was included among the countries where the internet is “suffocated”

Central Asian countries joined the group of countries with non-free internet.  This is stated in the annual report of the international organization “Freedom House” on internet freedom.

According to the organization, Kyrgyzstan is still the only country in the region where the internet is at least partially free – it ranks 36th out of 70 countries (53 points).

It is noted that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where the use of mobile and wired internet is limited during protests, remain the countries where the internet is not free.  Kazakhstan took 53rd place (32 points) and Uzbekistan took 60th place (27 points), respectively.

Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are not in this ranking at all.

The current rating was compiled by Freedom House based on data collected from 1 June 2021, to 31 May 2022.

Participants in the rating were evaluated according to three main criteria: barriers to access to the internet, restrictions on access to content, and violations of user rights.

The five countries with the freest internet are Iceland (95 points), Estonia (93 points), Costa Rica (88 points), Canada (87 points), Taiwan (79 points), and the United Kingdom (79 points).   China (10 points) is in last place for the eighth year in a row.

The authors of the report note that global freedom on the internet has declined for the twelfth year in a row.  Over the past year, the situation worsened in 28 countries and improved in 26.

On 1-2 July of this year, in the city of Nukus, Republic of Karakalpakstan, some citizens organized unexpected demonstrations, misinterpreting the constitutional reforms implemented in the Republic of Uzbekistan.  It should be noted that against the background of these demonstrations, there was no internet connection in Karakalpakstan for several days.