DUSHANBE, June 12, Asia-Plus – According to Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, Internet users in Tajikistan report that they cannot access Google services, including the Gmail electronic mail system, as of June 12.
Asomuddin Atoyev, the chairman of Tajikistan”s Association of Internet Service Providers, confirmed to RFE/RL that Google appears to have been blocked by a majority of Internet service providers.
The situation comes two days after the popular video-sharing website YouTube was also largely blocked.
On June 11, the OSCE”s representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovic, urged Tajik authorities to restore access to YouTube.
The deputy chief of the Tajik government”s Communications Service, Rafiqjon Shakirov, told RFE/RL on June 11 that his agency had nothing to do with the YouTube situation and cited “possible technical problems” as the cause of the disruption.
