Uzbek telecoms tsar fired after restricting social network access

TASHKENT: Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Wednesday fired the head of the Central Asian nation’s telecoms watchdog after he restricted access to popular social networks and websites such as Facebook and YouTube.

The president’s spokesman said the decision by watchdog Uzkomnazorat to drastically reduce the speed at which Uzbekistan’s 35 million citizens can access those websites was “unilateral and not fully thought-out”.

“I think access to all social networks will be restored soon,” spokesman Sherzod Asadov wrote in an official news channel in the Telegram messenger, adding that Uzkomnazorat head Golibsher Ziyayev has been fired.