Service blocking
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp
On April 23, 2019, a nationwide social media blackout was recorded in Tajikistan. The disruption targeted platforms such as Facebook during a live online interview given by Muhiddin Kabiri, the exiled leader of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). This reactive shutdown was implemented to prevent the domestic population from accessing opposition discourse.
Data from Meta’s Transparency Report confirm a sharp decline in traffic originating from Tajikistan on this date. This incident is a clear example of "event-based" censorship, where the state-controlled Unified Switching Center is used to temporarily isolate the country's digital space during specific political broadcasts to maintain control over the national narrative.
- Total Duration 15 days
Tajikistan
- Population
- 10,786,734
- UN Classification
-
- Land Locked Developing Country