DUSHANBE, October 8, 2014, Asia-Plus – Access to Internet in the Tajik northern Sughd province is expected to be restored on October 11.
Internet has been inaccessible in northern Tajikistan since October 5. Internet service providers refrain from commenting on the reasons for blocking access to Internet in Sughd while some sources blame the disruption on “technical problems.”
An official source at one of Internet service providers says they have received a verbal instruction from the communications service agency to block access to Internet in Sughd province until October 11.
Meanwhile, many news websites as well as proxy websites and animators that were also blocked on October 5 are still inaccessible in Dushanbe.
We will recall that Internet users in Tajikistan say hundreds of websites, including Facebook and YouTube, have been inaccessible in the country since October 5.
The state communications service agency’ says it has not given any orders to block any sites.
Representatives of a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), however, say they received letters from the communications service agency on October 4 asking them to block access to nearly three hundred websites. Representatives of some other ISPs say they did not received official letters but they received phone calls from the agency asking them to block access to some two hundred websites.
Asomuddin Atoyev, the chairman of Tajikistan”s Association of Internet Service Providers, says he does not have a proof that access to websites was ordered by the communications service agency. “But judging by unprofessional approach, one can guess that the communications service agency is behind this order,” Atoyev said.
According to him, blocking of websites may be linked to the opposition Group 24’s calls on social networks for a protest in downtown Dushanbe on October 10.
