Tajikistan

Tajik MP proposes social media ban for children under 14: A Tajik lawmaker proposed banning access to social media for children under 14 and requiring written parental consent for adolescents aged 14 to 17, citing concerns about false and harmful content.

Law on Responsibility for Child Education and Upbringing 2024 enacted: This new law prohibits all corporal punishment of children, requiring parents and teachers not to use violence against children.

Ministry of Culture explains regulation of foreign artists to prevent pornography and extremism: The First Deputy Minister of Culture stated that regulating foreign artists' visits aims to 'prevent pornography and extremism', requiring their programs to be approved.

Revised Law On the Protection of the Rights of the Child 2015 prohibits violence against children: The revised Law On the Protection of the Rights of the Child 2015 prohibits 'the use or threat to use violence against a child'.

27 individuals convicted for propagating pornography: A court passed a verdict against 27 people, jailing them for 5-8 years for propagating pornography (Article 241 of the Penal Code). They were reportedly detained on suspicion of homosexuality but charged with pornography for sharing intimate photos/videos online.

Man tried for distributing pornography via messengers: A resident of Buston city was accused of distributing pornographic materials via IMO and Viber messengers and was charged under Article 241 part 3 of the Criminal Code.

Law on Personal Data Protection enacted: Tajikistan's Law of 3 August 2018 No. 1537 on Personal Data Protection became effective, defining legal frameworks for collecting, storing, processing, or disclosing personal information.

ISPs forced to buy international bandwidth from Tajiktelecom: The government deprived ISPs of the right to purchase international bandwidth directly, forcing them to buy from state-owned Tajiktelecom at inflated prices.

Anti-terrorism laws amended to allow internet shutdowns: Amendments to anti-terrorism laws legalized shutting down the Internet or blocking communications without a court order during security operations.

Unified Electronic Communications Switching Center established: The government required all internet service providers (ISPs) to route international traffic through the state-controlled Unified Electronic Communications Switching Center (Single Communications Gateway) for national security and counter-terrorism monitoring, enabling widespread surveillance and censorship.

Resident fined $4000 for online pornography distribution: A resident of Dushanbe was fined 20,000 somoni (four thousand US dollars) for creating a website and distributing 10,000 pornographic videos for profit. The verdict was based on the Criminal Code of 1989.

Amendments to Criminal Code introduce harsher penalties for pornography: Changes to the new edition of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, which entered into force in March 2014, introduced not only large fines but also imprisonment up to five years for the distribution and import of pornographic materials.

SORM-like project halted: The high cost of the project and lobbying from telecom operators halted its realization.

Law on Changes and Amendments to the Criminal Code ratified: The lower chamber and the president ratified the Law on Changes and Amendments to the Criminal Code, introducing provisions on defamation and illegal collection and distribution of private data.

Government signaled intention to create ISP control agency: The government signaled its intention to create an agency under the Ministry of Transport and Communications that would control the ISP sector, requiring direct access for state inspectorate (similar to Russian SORM).

Concept of the Information Security of the Republic of Tajikistan adopted: The concept was adopted by the Decree of the President the Republic of Tajikistan, №1175.

National Strategy 'Information and Communication Technologies for Development of the Republic of Tajikistan' approved: The strategy was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan № 1174.

'.tj' domain registration delegated to state entity: The domain name registration was delegated to the Information and Technical Center of the President of Tajikistan Administration, a state entity that now supervises registrations within the '.tj' domain.

Homosexuality decriminalized: Tajikistan decriminalized homosexuality, repealing a Soviet-era law.

Tajik top-level domain name (.tj) registered and later suspended: The Tajik top-level domain name was registered with IANA, but later suspended because it was used mainly for registering pornography sites.

Internet introduced to Tajikistan: The internet became present within the country during the early 1990s, after Tajikistan gained independence in 1992.