The new report published by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that Turkmenistan ranks third in the rating of 10 most censored countries.
Eritrea and North Korea ranks first and second respectively. Turkmenistan is followed by Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Belarus and Cuba. The list is based on CPJ’s research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to surveillance of journalists and restrictions on internet and social media access.
The report runs that these 10 countries flout the international standard by banning or severely restricting independent media and intimidating journalists into silence with imprisonment, digital and physical surveillance, and other forms of harassment. Self-censorship is pervasive.
In the top three countries Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan the media serves as a mouthpiece of the state. The few foreign journalists permitted to enter are closely monitored.
Berdymukhamedov enjoys absolute control over all spheres of life in Turkmenistan, including the media, using it to promote his cult of personality.His regime suppresses independent voices by detaining and jailing journalists and.
All media outlets are owned or tightly controlled by the government.A handful of independent Turkmenistan-focused media outlets, such as Khronika Turkmenistana (Chronicles of Turkmenistan), operate in exile, and anyone who attempts to access the website can be questioned by the authorities.
Correspondents for RFE/RL’s Turkmen service work under pseudonyms and have been imprisoned, attacked, and banned from traveling, the report says.
The case of Turkmenistan-based journalist Soltan Achilova, who is barred from travelling overseas by the authorities, was given as an example.
CPJ emphasizes that only around 21% of the country’s population had access to the internet, according to the U.N. International Telecommunication Union. The regime blocks independent online publications and bans the use of VPNs.