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Tashkent launches 'state-run Facebook'
Mulogot, Uzbekistan’s first social network, is born. Sponsored by Government, it aims to keep a closer control of Internet users. Activists: Karimov fears Arabic style revolution.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The first social network sponsored by the government in Tashkent will officially be launched on 1 September, Uzbekistan’s 20th anniversary of independence. An alternative to the popular Facebook, the initiative aims to monitor more closely the population of Internet users, viewed as a potential source of tensions and social unrest, especially after the "Arab spring". The site will be called Mulogot, translated as "dialogue" or "conversation" and - according to reports from the BBC website, citing the Uzbekistani authorities - "it will create the conditions for the formation of high moral values... for fruitful development of modern knowledge". But like in China and Iran - says the Radio Free Europe - it is easy to see the intent behind the moralizing, the pretext for a crackdown on the Web.
In recent years, many young Uzbeks have moved closer to social networks. The most popular are the Russian Odnaklassniki, with 350-400 thousand daily users, and the American Facebook, with 85 thousand registered members. The creation of Mark Zuckerberg, in particular, has recently become a meeting place for opposition and human rights groups.
Many people wonder if Mulogot will bring together users, although it is admittedly a government project. To become a member you must own an Uzbek mobile phone number - to reduce as the presence / interference of foreigners - the service (in Uzbek and Russian) will send a text message to which you have three days to respond before your account is deleted. Like other social networks, Mulogot also offers chat, messaging, uploading music and photos and the site is optimized for viewing by phone (half of 7.7 million Uzbek Internet users access the Net via mobile phones). But the strength of Uzbekistan brother of Facebook, according to the local director of Radio Free Europe, Alisher Sidikov, is that Mulogot is tied to the state telecommunications monopoly, the government can attract users with free services or discounts in downloading music and movies.
Since social networks sprung to the attention of world governments because of their role in the Arab revolutions of this year, the most repressive regimes have begun to study ways to control them more closely. According to some activists, the launch of Mulogot could hide an impending total closure of Facebook in the country at the behest of the authoritarian President Karimov. (N.a.)