In the post-2016 period, Uzbekistan has achieved significant positive results in terms of freedom of speech and press. However, there is still a lot of work to be done in this area, and being satisfied with the achieved results does not allow us to reach new heights.
Kun.uz spoke with Navbahor Imomova, an Uzbek journalist who has worked for the Voice of America media company for several years, about freedom of speech.
Journalism and freedom of speech during the pandemic
- World journalism, including Uzbekistan, has faced a unique test during the pandemic. They were tested on how they could work in a confined space. Governments have also imposed political restrictions on the pandemic.
I can say that at that time Kyrgyzstan was the country with the largest media control in Central Asia. There, journalists were forced to cover many events virtually. But in Uzbekistan we have seen the opposite. Certain media covered the event. This was allowed.
All states have had to reconsider what freedom of speech and the press are. Because journalists need to walk among more people. It must be in a certain process. During the pandemic, the journalist also had to broadcast from home.
At this juncture, the government has become more powerful in blocking access to information. Maybe it's an opportunity that many officials have dreamed of. Kim was able to easily determine what information to give and how much. Journalists, on the other hand, had to be thankful.
In addition, whatever the government did during the pandemic, it benefited them. For example, special pages have been opened on social networks. However, the same could be done on other problematic issues.
Journalists, on the other hand, have become more critical of the government. Journalists from the United States to Uzbekistan have argued that the government is failing in the pandemic. In the United States, for example, the government ignored the threat of the coronavirus until mid-May. But then he began to take drastic measures.
"We work from the same house ..."
- To be honest, no one was ready for a pandemic, quarantine, even journalists. We worked from home for a few days, believing that life would return to normal. But we work from the same house. In other words, the level of freedom of the press has changed accordingly.
In addition, there was a perception that journalists could do so much in a pandemic, thanks to that.
Of course, the pandemic has affected journalists around the world. Our main task was to stay healthy. We fought for our lives. In other words, I would say that the coronavirus has affected the media in every way. I'm not talking about the difficulties in the advertising market, how many journalists have lost their jobs. But as far as I know from my colleagues in Uzbekistan, journalists are not fired here. There were even cases when some worked for free in order not to lose their jobs. This requires courage and bravery.
Freedom of the press and speech in Uzbekistan
- It has been 4 years since Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected president. Reforms were announced after the election, and Uzbekistan was said to be open to the world and domestic politics, and the government began to try to prove it. In other words, the world community applauded the relative changes that had taken place.
It should be noted that any positive changes should not stop, on the contrary, they should continue. In Uzbekistan, however, there is a long way to go, where there is a starting point and a finish line in the reform process. For some reason, everyone thinks about the finish line, to reach it and celebrate it, to evaluate it as a win. But the focus on the process is very low. Even in the promises of freedom of the press, we thought about reaching the top, but we did not think about how to achieve it.
On the other hand, there are those who say that we deserve the results we have achieved in the last four years on freedom of the press, and no more. Because everything was relative. The most gratifying part of this period was the increase in the number of Uzbek-language media outlets. Because until 2017, in order to get some quality information about Uzbekistan, you had to turn to a source in Russian or English, and it was a shame.
Currently, the media space in Uzbekistan is enriched and expanded with quality content in the Uzbek language.
"Maintaining and strengthening the achieved results is the next task"
- Now, of course, it is necessary to maintain the current level of the media, to consolidate their achievements and build on this result. The past 4 years have served as a foundation. The news agenda in Uzbekistan is more or less directly set by the media.
The debate between the AOCA and some media outlets, which I watch as a professional debate, I think you journalists: “Journalism is not an agency that teaches what it is, we define it; we also have our own standards, we are learning our professional responsibility; It is wrong to expect a perfect product from us in every way, because in the cauldron there is a bucket in the pot, do not hit us on the head, but do your own thing, do you issue a license, give, adapt, do coordination, ”he said.
About the body supervising the activities of the media
- At that time, I expressed my opinion on the words of Akmal Saidov. The "keyword" in his statement is control. In the case of Uzbekistan, control is only appropriate when it comes to regulation. In other words, how the media operates, how much taxes it pays, how employees should respect the law, how to work within the law - it's all about the license. There are such bodies in every state.
However, when it comes to control, censorship, restrictions, as is the age-old tradition in Uzbekistan, we say what journalism is, we set the norms and rules of freedom, we constantly remind you of the red lines, in the sense that it is unfounded.
Because in many countries this is not allowed by law.
For example, there are gold laws in the United States. The Voice of America cannot interfere in our activities, even if it receives direct funding from Congress and the government agency that administers us receives funding from the government. These things are prescribed by law.
"Confessions are being ignored"
- The current situation with freedom of speech in Uzbekistan, frankly, gives hope to journalists like me. First of all, it is commendable that journalists are fighting for themselves. Unity between them is as important as water and air. At the same time, the media are spiritually supporting each other (when necessary), even though they are rivals. You know who is feeling, and you remind your students that you are unhappy with the situation.
Of course, members of the government say, "This is progress, what more do you want?" can say. It was not like that before. But sometimes such confessions also start to hurt. But today this recognition is obsolete, because such applause was more important two or three years ago.
After all, Uzbekistan does not want to stand still, but the government must pursue new goals.
Tolib Rakhmatov spoke.
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COURTESY kun.uz
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