On 11–12 May, the second Supplementary Meeting on the Human Dimension of the OSCE, chaired by Switzerland, is taking place in Vienna on the theme “Protecting Civil Society in the Digital Age”. The political opposition movement “Erkin O’zbekiston” participating in the event has issued the following statement.

Behind the glossy façade of slogans about the “New Uzbekistan” and large-scale digitalisation lies a grim reality: Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s regime has turned technological progress into a punitive tool for total surveillance and the suppression of dissent. Digitisation, Uzbek-style, is not a service for citizens, but a mechanism for the unceremonious invasion of private life. Technologies intended to serve progress have turned into chains with which the authorities shackle society.

The introduction of facial recognition systems and AI surveillance has nothing to do with security. It is a punitive infrastructure designed to target activists and clear the political field.

AI algorithms operate flawlessly, stifling any hint of free speech, regardless of citizens’ ethnic or religious backgrounds.

An army of pro-government bloggers and ‘troll farms’, spreading degradation and fear, enjoy the regime’s direct favour. The authorities’ primary aim is not order, but absolute submission through moral decay and intimidation.

The complicity of global tech giants is particularly alarming. By pandering to the regime, tech corporations are destroying the opposition’s digital presence. Even verified users (Meta Verified) who pay for priority support are unable to defend their rights. Charging fees whilst simultaneously ignoring appeals constitutes a direct breach of contract by Meta Platforms, Inc. and amounts to de facto complicity with the dictatorship.

For the second year running, the regime has been carrying out a systematic purge of the information landscape, directing the full force of its repressive apparatus against the resources of the “Erkin O’zbekiston” movement. Using mechanisms of transnational persecution, the authorities are attempting to physically destroy any content that exposes their crimes. To date, as a result of a massive wave of spurious complaints, the movement’s social media accounts have been blocked, and its official website remains inaccessible within Uzbekistan.

The regime’s international alliance with shadowy organisations poses a particular threat. To block independent media outlets, the regime employs blackmail and threats, enlisting the help of Russian hackers operating under the international brand BRANDPOL. The “Erkin O’zbekiston” movement officially stated as early as December 2025 that this organisation was directly involved in attacks on freedom of speech. Today, these predictions have been confirmed: the scale of the persecution has extended far beyond the country’s borders.

OUR STATEMENT

We state with the utmost certainty that the creation of a free information space in Uzbekistan is impossible as long as digital data serves solely the interests of Mirziyoyev’s repressive apparatus.

Freedom of speech is under threat. Without the immediate imposition of tough international sanctions and strict controls on the export of dual-use technologies, Uzbekistan will ultimately become a zone of absolute lawlessness.

The time for empty dialogue with the dictatorship is over. We call on the international community to take radical measures to protect human rights in Uzbekistan. We must act today, before the ‘digital curtain’ closes completely, turning the entire country into a technological prison.