UZBEKISTAN AND INTERNET FREEDOM: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000162 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/PPD, SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KPAO UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN AND INTERNET FREEDOM: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF "U.S. CONTROLLED" MEDIA REF: 10 TASHKENT 90 ¶1. (U) Summary: On January 25, 2010, Inson va Qonum (Humankind and Law),a newspaper owned by the Ministry of Justice, published an article entitled "Can You Live Without a TV? And Without Internet?" (Note: Inson va Qonum is published exclusively in Uzbek and has a circulation of 21,300. End Note.) The full text of the article is below. This article further illustrates (Reftel) the GoU's attempts to promote Uzbek values in the face of globalization, and it sheds additional light on how the local context will impact U.S. efforts to promote media and Internet freedom. The "dig" at DoD also smacks of Russian disinformation. End Summary. Translated Text of Article: "Can You Live Without a TV? And Without Internet?" ¶2. (U) If you enter any shop or supermarket, you'll see goods from various countries. Such goods are delivered to us by the means of extraordinarily complicated economic ties which cover the entire world today. Social, political and economic ties cross international borders, impact people's destinies, and rule over them. The process by which global ties are increasing throughout the world on a daily basis is known succinctly as "globalization." ¶3. (U) Today, American companies are first in the world in producing TV programs and films, producing and distributing commercials, and in broadcasting information through means of electronic communications. Many researchers say that the U.S. has created, and now promotes, a unified cultural empire. Sociologist Herbert Schiller thinks that American companies' control over information processes is carried out directly by the U.S. government, and in particular, by the Department of Defense. When the largest western agencies control the flow of world news, they add their own views to the contents of that news. To be clear, the culture that destroys various local cultures is propagated through the export of American television. Unfortunately, many developing countries do not have protective programs to resist such threats. But our country is an exception. ¶4. (U) It is difficult to find a family without a TV today. It has been determined that, except for when they are sleeping, children under the age of 18 spend most of their time in front of the TV. �00A;¶5. (U) TV has seriously affected on our everyday lives, because the majority of people schedule their agendas according to TV programs. Moreover, when researchers studied negative content, they found that cartoons had the most oppressive and torturing content. Unfortunately, it is usually children who are the most frequent viewers of the world's cartoons. Therefore this is our problem as well. ¶6. (U) Now it is possible to buy discs of any kind and subject in local markets. There are many "hot" clips and pornography, which means that "globalization" is carrying out its task in this matter as well. ¶7. (U) According to research conducted by "Netcraft," there were 155 million Internet websites in 2007. That number reached more than 200 million in 2009. Our country's average Internet connection speed is 825 mbps. This is 3.6 times faster than it was in 2006 and 2.3 times faster than last year. The number of Internet users in our country has reached 2.46 million people. ¶8. (U) On the one hand, the Internet is a good means of education, recreation, and communication with friends. But, on the other hand, TASHKENT 00000162 002 OF 002 this network can be a threat to young people. Virtual communication can do great harm to both children and elders. This means that not all of the billions of pages on the Internet positively impact users' minds. For example, in 2004, a group of nine people committed a suicide in Japan. Information about how to commit suicide, which was posted on several websites, played a great role in this matter. ¶9. (U) In addition, one of the problems that affects the entire world now is pornography. The spread of such products in the unmanageable "web" is easier and more comfortable. Statistical data shows that users often visit pornography websites. ¶10. (U) Also, it cannot be said that websites with instructions on how to create explosives, descriptions of ways to commit suicide, anti-Semitism, and even criticism of different nations and religions, will positively affect young people. In order to avoid such problems, children's Internet usage should be controlled by their parents. ¶11. (U) Well, what can we do to prevent the negative influence of such problems on young people's minds? We think that we should increase the number of websites in Uzbek language with various spiritual, educational, and entertainment content, because a user, first and foremost, will search for information in Uzbek, and if he cannot find it in Uzbek, he will have to search in other languages. Websites that are alien to our national mentality will poison the minds of our young people step by step. End Text. Norland NORLAND