Are Tajik bloggers being pushed into a framework?

The authorities of Tajikistan intend to turn popular bloggers into propagandists for government policy.

On April 26, a Youth Forum was held in Dushanbe on the topic “Finding ways and tools to use social networks in national interests and to promote the values of statehood,” which was attended by dozens of popular Tajik bloggers.

Representatives of government bodies, including the Committee on Youth and Sports, the Youth Union, the Center for Strategic Studies, the Ministry of Culture, etc., participated in the forum and delivered speeches.

In their speeches, government representatives urged bloggers to promote the country’s government policy, not to grow beards, and called on girls to wear national clothing.

The head of the Committee on Youth and Sports, Abdullo Rahmonzoda, raised the issue of growing beards in his speech. “The authorities are sensitive to the issue of growing beards. Today, a beard is a factor, a sign, or a signal of the ideas of a terrorist and extremist nature of the organization Taliban, which is banned in our country.”

According to the head of the Committee on Youth Affairs, by growing beards, the youth in the country send a signal to the Taliban that “we accept your ideas.” He also emphasized that a beard “poses a threat to our national statehood.” He urged bloggers to pay special attention to this when preparing video materials.

At the forum, government representatives criticized the clothing of some bloggers. They also repeatedly emphasized that bloggers should “not succumb to the ideology of extremist groups” and not lose “political vigilance.” Bloggers were urged to promote national and cultural values, as well as the government’s policy.

Besides authoritarian countries like Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, no other country in the world has attempted to confine bloggers within its framework and turn them into propagandists for government policy.