DUSHANBE, June 10, 2014, Asia-Plus – Access inside Tajikistan to the video-sharing website YouTube was blocked on June 10.
“The blockage has stopped traffic to YouTube from several country’s Internet service providers (ISPs) and only users of Megafon and telecom Technology Internet ISPs have access to the website,” Asomuddin Atoyev, the chairman of Tajikistan”s Association of Internet Service Providers, told Asia-Plus in an interview on Tuesday.
He is, however, sure that Megafon and Telecom Technology will also bloc access to the video-sharing website.
Atoyev further added that it could not be ruled out that access to YouTube had been blocked following a written or verbal instruction from the communications service agency.
“I suppose that access to YouTube was blocked after any “unfavorable” video had been posted on the website,” the head of the Tajik Internet Service Providers’ Association noted.
We will recall that access to the video-sharing website was blocked previously last November, on the eve of Tajikistan’s presidential election.
According to some sources, the partial blockage of YouTube in November 2013 had been ordered by the Communications Service under the Government of Tajikistan.
