OSCE Calls On Turkmenistan To Comply With Media-Freedom Obligations

The Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe (OSCE) has called on Turkmen authorities to comply with their obligations regarding media freedom and open Internet access to citizens.

In a statement following a visit to Ashgabat, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Teresa Ribeiro, said she "specifically highlighted" restrictions on the free flow of information, both online and offline, along with limited access to information in the country.

She also urged the authorities to uphold the relevant commitments of the OSCE regarding freedom of expression and media freedom.

"In today's interdependent world, freedom of the media is only achievable by ensuring equal access to the online information ecosystem," Ribeiro said.

"I appreciate Turkmenistan's commitment to multilateralism and to the OSCE in particular in its wish for peace and security. I would like to highlight the importance of free and independent media as a tool in achieving this goal," she added.

Turkmenistan's authoritarian government has always tightly controlled information in the isolated country by monitoring and blocking news websites, social media platforms, and messaging apps.

In their latest bid to regulate what Turkmen can see online, state officials reportedly summoned bloggers and influencers in several regions recently to tell them to promote the government's narrative of the "happy and prosperous" country of Turkmenistan.

According to the bloggers, police also warned them that if they shared any content that was critical of the government they could go to jail and that even liking or commenting on such content is prohibited and could be seen as "anti-government activity."

The Central Asian country has repeatedly been cited as having the slowest Internet in the world.

The U.K.-based Cable.co.uk said in a report on worldwide broadband speed that Turkmenistan, with an average Internet speed of 0.50 megabits per second, was the slowest of all 224 countries surveyed in 2021.

In Turkmenistan, it took some 22 hours and 34 minutes to download a 5-gigabyte video file.