SOCIAL MEDIA, CYBER-DISSENT, AND CONSTRAINTS ON ONLINE POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN CENTRAL ASIA
Abstract
Recent world events have demonstrated that the Internet—and social media tools in particular—are increasingly useful for political organizing, not merely frivolous virtual spaces for youthful publics to connect socially. Rather, social media is touted as “the crucible in which repressed civil societies can revive and develop.” For the people of Central Asia—where free expression is curtailed and news outlets are under official or non-state, non-official government censorship—information and communication technology (ICT) provides an increasingly important vehicle for political expression. Blogging and social media tools may fulfill a crucial role for non-journalists and oppositional groups that journalism serves in more democratic societies, as recent events in Tunisia, Egypt, and Iran illustrate.
In earlier eras, the costs associated with traditional or legacy media necessarily limited participation to small groups of elites. Now, the relative lack of entry costs in the online world raises the prospects for mass publics to bypass those traditional gatekeepers and become publishers and broadcasters on their own. ICTs have “had clear roles in both starting new democratic processes in some countries and entrenching them in others,” Howard noted. However, the libertarian possibilities of increased freedom facilitated by ICT access have a dark reality, as repressitarian governments adapt to the Internet age by exerting power over the Internet’s infrastructure and using activist communications for surveillance purposes.
This paper reviews recent events and legal developments related to the Internet and social media in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. They include legislation extending libel laws to online communications, blocking of oppositional and independent websites, and punishing journalists who report or comment for online media.
Downloads
References
L. Morillon, J. Julliard, “Enemies of the Internet:
eb 2.0 versus Control 2.0,” Reporters without Borders,available at [http://www.rsf.org/ennemis.html], 2010, p. 2.
See: A. Puddephatt, “Freedom of Expression Rights in the Digital Age. Mapping Digital Media: Reference SeriesNo. 6,” Open Society Media Program, London, 2011, avail-able at [www.mappingdigitalmedia.org].
P. Howard, The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam,Oxford University Press, New York, 2010.
See: E. Morozov, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, Public Affairs, New York, 2011.
See: B. Kovach, T. Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2007.
See: A. Puddephatt, op. cit.
See: M.E. Price, “Press Freedom Measures: An Introduction,” in: Measures of Press Freedom and Media Contri-butions to Development: Evaluating the Evaluators, ed. by M.E. Price, S. Abbott, L. Morgan, Peter Lang, New York, 2011,pp. 1-19.; R. Shafer, E. Freedman, “Press Constraints as Obstacles to Establishing Civil Societies in Central Asia,” Jour-nalism Studies, No. 10 (6), 2009, pp. 851-869.
R. Shafer, E. Freedman, op. cit.
For example, Art 20 of the Kazakhstan Constitution promises: “The freedom of speech and creative activities shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freely receive and disseminate informa-tion by any means not prohibited by law.” However, it also includes this broadly worded exclusion: “3. Propaganda of or agitation for the forcible change of the constitutional system, violation of the integrity of the Republic, undermining of state security, and advocating war, social, racial, national, religious, class and clannish superiority as well as the cult of cruelty and violence shall not be allowed” (Constitution of Kazakhstan (2007), available at [www.kazakhstan.orexca.com/
azakhstan_constitution.shtml]).
E. Freedman, R. Shafer, S. Antonova, “Two Decades of Repression: The Persistence of Authoritarian Controls on the Mass Media in Central Asia,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, Vol. 11, Issue 4, 2010, p. 95.
R. Shafer, E. Freedman, “In Need of Defenders: Imperiled Press Rights in Post-Soviet Central Asia and the Role of Media Watch and Media Advocacy Organizations,” Paper presented to the International Association for Media and Com-munication Research, Istanbul, 2011.
Media Sustainability Index 2011: Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia, Inter-national Research & Exchanges Board, Washington, D.C., 2011.
See: “Freedom on the Net,” Freedom House, 2011, available at [www.freedomhouse.org].
E. Morozov, op. cit., p. 87.
See: “Internet World Stats,” 2011, available at [www.internetworldstats.com].
W.H. Dutton, A. Dopatka, M. Hills, G. Law, V. Nash, Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression: The Chang-ing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford, U.K., 2011, p. 45.
See: L. Morillon, J. Julliard, op. cit.
Ibid., p. 4.
See: “Kazakh Bloggers Say Blockage of Blog Website for ‘Political Reasons,’” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liber-ty, 13 July, 2011, available at [www.rferl.org/articleprintview/24264250.html].
See: C. Schwartz, “Kazakh Blog Ban Demonstrates Complexity of Digital Free Speech,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 25 July, 2011, available at [www.rferl.org/content/transmission_kazakh_blog_ban_shows_complexity_of_digital_
ree_speech/24275964.html].
See: J. Lillis, “Kazakhstan: Is State-Sponsored Hacking Curbing Internet Freedom?” EurasiaNet.org, 2011, avail-able at [www.eurasianet.org/node/63987].
See: 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S. Department of State, 2011, available at [www.state.
ov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/index.htm].
“Freedom on the Net.”
Ibidem.
See: Ibidem.
See: “Mobile Cellular Subscriptions per 100 Inhabitants,” International Telecommunications Union, 2011, avail-
able at [www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics].
See: 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
A. Khamidov, “Kyrgyzstan: A Free Press Begets Hate Speech,” EurasiaNet.org, 12 May, 2011, available at [http:/
www.eurasianet.org/node/63473].
The Ferghana Valley in southern Kyrgyzstan was the site of deadly clashes in 2010 between ethnic Uzbeks and
ethnic Kyrgyz. Ethnic tensions remain high in the region.
N. Ognianova, Interview with E. Freedman and R. Shafer, New York City, 11 March, 2011).
See: K. Kohlmeier, N. Nekbakhtshoev, “Internet Libel Law and Freedom of Expression in Tajikistan,” in: After the Czars and Commissars. Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia, ed. by E. Freedman, R. Shafer, Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, Michigan, 2011.
“Turkmen Rights Group’s Website Hacked,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2010, available at [www.rferl.org/
ontent/Turkmen_Rights_Groups_Website_Hacked/2189615.html].
See: Z. Hoerdegen, “The Future of Internet Media in Uzbekistan: Transformation from State Censorship to Mon-itoring of Information Space since Independence,” in: After the Czars and Commissars. Journalism in Authoritarian Post-Soviet Central Asia.
See: W.H. Dutton et al., op. cit., pp. 42-43.
See: “2010 Prison Census,” Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010, available at [http://cpj.org/imprisoned/
php].
See: B.J. Bowe, R. Blom, E. Freedman, “Negotiating Boundaries between Control and Dissent: Free Speech, Busi-ness and Repressitarian Governments,” in: Human Rights and Information Communication Technologies: Trends and Con-sequences of Use, ed. by J. Lannon, IGI Global (in press).
See: A. Puddephatt, op. cit.
See: S.V. Kulikova, D.D. Perlmutter, “Blogging Down the Dictator? The Kyrgyz Revolution and Samizdat Web-sites,” International Communication Gazette, No. 69, 2007, pp. 29-50.
M. Tahir, “Citizen Journalism Scores Breakthrough in Turkmenistan,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2011,available at [www.rferl.org/content/citizen_journalism_scores_breakthrough_in_turkmenistan/24266428.html].
“Kazakhstan’s Traditional Mass Media May Lose Out to Online Media—Masimov,” Central Asia & Caucasus Busi-ness Weekly, 2011, available at [www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/money-currencies/15624949-1.html].
See: P. Howard, op. cit., p. 201.
See: E. Morozov, op. cit., p. xiii.
See: H. Ibold, “Disjuncture 2.0: Youth, Internet Use, and Cultural Identity in Bishkek,” Central Asian Survey,
No. 29 (4), 2010, p. 524.
R. Shafer, E. Freedman, “In Need of Defenders…”
See: T. Kenny, “Kyrgyzstan: Are Mobile Phones a Blessing or a Curse?” EurasiaNet, 2011, available at [http://www.
eurasianet.org/node/63958].
Ibidem.
Ibidem.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2012 Author
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.