Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
All Tajik ISPs operate under a license from the Tajik Ministry of Transport and Communication. Internet service providers are permitted to operate VoIP services under an
IP-telephony license, although the ministry has introduced amendments that require
VoIP providers to obtain a special license, presumably as a means to further regulate
the sector. 23 In Tajikistan, P2P services are not popular, and the government has not
shown ambitions to regulate them at this time.
The main state entities regulating the Internet in Tajikistan are the Security Council
(SC), the ICT Council, and the MTC (an entity established in February 2007, replacing
the former Ministry of Communications). The Communications and Informatization
Department of the MTC is the main regulator in the telecommunications industry
and is empowered to issue licenses for any related activities. 24 In 2003, the government
adopted the Conception on Information Security, 25 which serves as a platform for proclaiming official views and policy directions to preserve state information security.
The president remains the key authority that ratifies the main legal documents in
the IT sector and directs ICT policy in the country. The SC controls the implementation of the State Strategy on Information and Communication Technologies for
Development of the Republic of Tajikistan (e-Strategy), 26 aimed at developing the
information society and exploiting the country’s ICT potential. The SC monitors telecommunications, including the Internet, for national security reasons. The ICT Council, 27 where the president sits as chairman alongside members of the government, is
responsible for implementing and coordinating work under the e-Strategy and advising
the president. However, although the council was established in February 2006, it has
yet to be convened.
The government restricts the distribution of state secrets and other privileged data
intending to ‘‘discredit the dignity and honor of the state and the President,’’ or
that which contains ‘‘violence and cruelty, racial, national and religious hostility . . .
pornography . . . and any other information prohibited by law.’’ 28 The provisions of
this regulation are broad and allow state bodies wide discretion in their application.
The control over information security is assigned to the Main Department of State
Secrets and the Ministry of Security.
The lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) and the president ratified the Law on
Changes and Amendments to the Criminal Code in June and July 2007, respectively.
The changes introduced, inter alia, provisions on defamation (Article 135, part 2, Slander) and provisions on illegal collection and distribution of private data (Article 144,
part 1). Defamation incurred over ‘‘mass media or Internet’’ is prosecuted according to
local laws when it contains ‘‘intentional distribution via the Internet of knowingly
false, libelous and insulting information, as well as expletive words and phrases which
denigrate the dignity of human personality.’’
Tajikistan
231
All Tajik ISPs operate under a license from the Tajik Ministry of Transport and Communication. Internet service providers are permitted to operate VoIP services under an
IP-telephony license, although the ministry has introduced amendments that require
VoIP providers to obtain a special license, presumably as a means to further regulate
the sector. 23 In Tajikistan, P2P services are not popular, and the government has not
shown ambitions to regulate them at this time.
The main state entities regulating the Internet in Tajikistan are the Security Council
(SC), the ICT Council, and the MTC (an entity established in February 2007, replacing
the former Ministry of Communications). The Communications and Informatization
Department of the MTC is the main regulator in the telecommunications industry
and is empowered to issue licenses for any related activities. 24 In 2003, the government
adopted the Conception on Information Security, 25 which serves as a platform for proclaiming official views and policy directions to preserve state information security.
The president remains the key authority that ratifies the main legal documents in
the IT sector and directs ICT policy in the country. The SC controls the implementation of the State Strategy on Information and Communication Technologies for
Development of the Republic of Tajikistan (e-Strategy), 26 aimed at developing the
information society and exploiting the country’s ICT potential. The SC monitors telecommunications, including the Internet, for national security reasons. The ICT Council, 27 where the president sits as chairman alongside members of the government, is
responsible for implementing and coordinating work under the e-Strategy and advising
the president. However, although the council was established in February 2006, it has
yet to be convened.
The government restricts the distribution of state secrets and other privileged data
intending to ‘‘discredit the dignity and honor of the state and the President,’’ or
that which contains ‘‘violence and cruelty, racial, national and religious hostility . . .
pornography . . . and any other information prohibited by law.’’ 28 The provisions of
this regulation are broad and allow state bodies wide discretion in their application.
The control over information security is assigned to the Main Department of State
Secrets and the Ministry of Security.
The lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) and the president ratified the Law on
Changes and Amendments to the Criminal Code in June and July 2007, respectively.
The changes introduced, inter alia, provisions on defamation (Article 135, part 2, Slander) and provisions on illegal collection and distribution of private data (Article 144,
part 1). Defamation incurred over ‘‘mass media or Internet’’ is prosecuted according to
local laws when it contains ‘‘intentional distribution via the Internet of knowingly
false, libelous and insulting information, as well as expletive words and phrases which
denigrate the dignity of human personality.’’
Tajikistan
231