Uzbekistan authorities unblocked Twitter, WeChat and Vkontakte, a move which was by the personnel change in the presidential administration. Earlier, Sardor Umrzoqov was appointed as the head of the administration, and Komil Allamjonov as his deputy.
Today, starting from August 1, the ban on Twitter, WeChat and Vkontakte social network is being lifted in Uzbekistan. This was reported by the Information and Mass Communications Agency (IMCA).
According to the official report, negotiations with the TikTok platform are ongoing, and additional information will be provided regarding the results.
"Blockings of any sort only harm the development," IMCA said in a statement.
The lifting of the ban on the four platforms follows changes in the leadership of the President's administration. Last month, Sardor Umrzoqov was appointed as the head of the Presidential Administration replacing Zaynilobiddin Nizomiddinov. Kamil Allamjonov became his deputy.
"Blocking only harms and is a stupidity," Allamjonov wrote today on his Telegram channel.
The president's spokesman Sherzod Asadov also reacted to the news.
"Our president has repeatedly emphasized that ensuring the freedom of speech and the press, the right of citizens to receive and disseminate information, to freely express their thoughts and views is one of the most important directions of state policy and that it will be consistently continued.
"Closing the information space, attempts to prevent the pluralism of opinions do not serve the development of the society, but on the contrary, it pulls it back - it is a fact that does not require proof," said Asadov.
Twitter, TikTok, WeChat and Vkontakte were blocked on July 2 last year.
This was presumably in pursuance of the Article 27-1 of the Personal Information Law. According to it, personal information of citizens of Uzbekistan shall be stored on servers physically located on the territory of Uzbekistan.
