DUSHANBE, June 17, 2014, Asia-Plus — Internet users in Tajikistan report that Google services, including YouTube and the Gmail electronic mail system, remain inaccessible, despite protests by international organizations, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on June 16.
Reporters Without Borders and the OSCE”s representative on freedom of the media have urged Tajik authorities to restore access to YouTube and Google.
The services became inaccessible via Tajikistan”s leading Internet providers starting on June 9.
The deputy chief of the Tajik government”s Communications Service, Rafiqjon Shokirov, told RFE/RL on June 11 that his agency had nothing to do with the situation and cited “possible technical problems” as the cause of the disruption.
Meanwhile, owners of expensive Android smartphones, which run Google-based software, complain that the situation has turned their phones into ordinary mobile devices.
