A number of social networks are being restricted in Uzbekistan due to violation of requirement to keep local personal data of Uzbek citizens at local data centers, said the State Inspectorate for Control in Area of Informatization and Telecommunications ("Uzkomnazorat").
“Due to the violation of the Article 27-1 of the Personal Data Law some social networks have been included in the Register of violators of the rights of subjects of personal data starting from July 2, 2021,” the statement says.
The use of "appropriate resources" on the territory of Uzbekistan is limited until the identified deficiencies are eliminated, the inspectorate added.
Uzkomnazorat did not elaborate on which social networks have been restricted. However, users report of lack of access to Twitter, TikTok and VKontakte, in particular, media files are either loading slowly or not loading at all. The Skype messenger is also not accessible.
In May, Uzkomnazorat ordered the owners of social networks Mail.ru Group (VKontakte), Twitter and Tencent (WeChat) to comply with Article 27-1 of the Personal Data Law, that is, to place servers on which personal data of Uzbek citizens locally.
Recently, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticized "ugly cases in social networks", "inappropriate actions of some ill-mannered young people committed at the monuments of Alisher Navoi, Amir Temur, the Grieving mother." These footages were distributed, in particular, on TikTok.
