No Let-Up in Cyberspace Policing
Friday, 18 April, 2008
No Let-Up in Cyberspace Policing
Friday, 18 April, 2008
In late March, when the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, RSF, published its annual list of “enemies of the internet”, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were among the 15 countries named.
RSF said government leaders in all these states were terrified of allowing their people even slightly more access to the web than they currently have.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan feature regularly on the RSF list because of their longstanding practice of restricting access to the internet.
The first internet cafe in Turkmenistan opened only in February 2007, after the Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov was elected president and made a public pledge to allow people to connect to the web.
More than a year on, observers say there are only about ten internet cafes in the whole of Turkmenistan. The state monopoly Turkmentelecom is the sole provider, and many websites remain blocked, notably opposition and foreign sites as well as popular news sources on Central Asia such as Ferghana.ru, Centrasia.ru and Eurasianet.org.
Users often have to show their passports as ID and write down their details before being allowed into an internet cafe.
“The authorities are always very concerned that people should not read or disseminate inappropriate information,” said one local journalist.
Other media-watchers note that internet cafes administrators ease these restrictions only for representatives of international organisations and sometimes allow them to access banned sites. Foreign tourists staying in expensive hotels can also access the web.
For most people, there is little or no real access.
“Two years ago I applied to Turkmentelecom to get a dedicated line installed,” said one Ashgabat resident. “They’re always telling me… just to hang on and be patient.”
The few private subscribers to internet services are well aware their activities are carefully scrutinised by the authorities, and are paranoid about what they look at.
“Many parents lock their computers with a password so that their child don’t accidentally open banned sites when they are out,” said the Ashgabat resident.
Similar controls are in place in Uzbekistan, where sites deemed unfriendly to the regime are also blocked. However, it is easier here to acquire a dedicated line because there are more than 15 provider companies. But one’s internet access can be shut off without warning.
“The providers give their clients a contract which says the service can be halted unilaterally and without compensation if external [police] agencies believe the customer’s actions represent a threat to national security,” said an observer in Tashkent.
Ahead of the sensitive presidential election in December 2007, many local providers switched off the dedicated lines of many independent Uzbek journalists, blaming “repair work” of unspecified duration.
Media experts believe that although the two governments have committed themselves to providing better internet access for the public, quasi-legal restrictions will remain in place. For example, Uzbek internet cafes limit the copying of text and close off the ports for removable devices like flashdisks, ostensibly to protect their equipment from damage.
According to one analyst, “Given the total lack of objective information in the state-controlled press, the internet is viewed as the last source of truth. So the authorities are afraid it could become a powerful generator of anti-government sentiment – even action.”
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
