Access to Skype in Uzbekistan is officially open

Uzbekistan has lifted the restriction on access to Skype. The messenger has been removed from the blacklist, after a year of isolation. The Ministry of Finance reported on the work on the gradual opening of access to other services too.

The Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications said that work is underway to gradually restore access to other services like Twitter, TikTok, VKontakte and WeChat.

According to the law, foreign companies must host servers that process the personal data of Uzbek citizens inside the country. The amendment was signed by the president in January last year. It came into force in mid-April 2021.

In May last year, Uzkomnazorat ordered the owners of VKontakte, Twitter and WeChat to ensure compliance with the law, and in July entered them into the register of violators. At the same time, Skype appeared in the registry, but access to it from Uzbekistan was restricted a few years before.

In early November, Telegram, Facebook, Odnoklassniki, YouTube and other sites that are very popular in the country appeared in the law violators registry that caused a public outcry, and within a few hours access was restored. This was followed by the resignations of the head of Uzkomnazorate, the Minister of ICT and the adviser to the Prime Minister on IT.

In October last year, the President signed a law on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Responsibility, toughening penalties for violations of the legislation on personal data. It came into force on January 30, 2022.