Legal framework for internet activities in Uzbekistan: legal analysis of legislation

Today, the Internet is becoming a benchmark in the level of development of any state. The current stage of the development of states is quite rightly assessed through the prism of the development of Internet technologies and the degree of their regulation.

Therefore, for Uzbekistan, the development of the Internet and activities in this area is an important step towards prosperity and sustainable development. It is not for nothing that the Strategy of New Uzbekistan sets the task of revising the requirements for modern technologies and digital activities in the framework of increasing the competitiveness of the legal system and mobilizing new drivers of the economy. Now everyone knows that digital technologies are the main catalyst for globalization. It is not for nothing that the UN called digital technologies as “an effective means of achieving all 17 sustainable development goals”. Global development using digital technologies is therefore called the digital future.

As of January 2022, there are about 4.95 billion Internet users in the world, which is approximately 62.5% of the world's population. According to the press service of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Uzbekistan, the number of Internet users in Uzbekistan in 2021 exceeded 27.2 million. Compared to 2020, the number of Internet users increased by 23% (then there were slightly more than 22 million Internet users).

The Republic of Uzbekistan is confidently moving towards the formation of an information society. This is evidenced by a number of indicators, such as the share of the digital economy in GDP, the amount of investment in the ICT industry, the speed of the Internet, its coverage of the country's territory and availability for use by the population, the level of development of e-commerce, the share of public services in the e-government system, the provision of organizations with specialists in in the field of ICT, etc. In addition, this is evidenced by indicators in international ratings that assess the degree of development of information technologies in the country. Significant progress has been made in many of these indicators in Uzbekistan since 2016, according to a number of experts. Thus, the gross value added created in the services sector in the field of "information and communication" has doubled since 2016 from 4.4 to 8.8 trillion soums, and the volume of services rendered by the type of economic activity "information and communication" doubled from 6.3 to 12.9 trillion soums.

Currently, Uzbekistan is actively developing and encouraging the introduction of digital technologies in both the public and private sectors. The leadership of the country and the Government are pursuing a balanced policy for the widespread introduction of ICT in all spheres of public life.

This is evidenced by the inclusion of the national goal of significantly expanding access to ICT and the desire to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in the National Sustainable Development Goals and Targets for the period up to 2030, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of February 21, 2022 No. 83.

In general, in recent years, legal foundations have been created to improve the system of state support for science and innovation. So, for 2018-2021, in the field of regulating Internet activity, there were more than 20 by-laws in the form of Decrees and resolutions of the President, resolutions and orders of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Main achievements in the field of national legislation on the protection of Internet activities

In Uzbekistan, the legislative framework is being systematized to ensure the stability of the legal regulation of the activities of the media, as well as ensuring freedom of speech and information, reviving the legal framework for the activities and protecting the professional rights of journalists.

In the annual Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Oliy Majlis, it was noted that the media, along with objective coverage of the large-scale changes taking place in our country, draw the attention of government departments and the public to topical problems on the ground and encourage leaders at all levels to solve these problems. Today, they are increasingly becoming the “fourth estate”.

The head of state also said that fair criticism of objective journalists and bloggers points to the mistakes and shortcomings of the old-fashioned leaders, forcing them to change their work style and increase their responsibility.

In addition, the statements of the Head of State “Publicity and freedom of speech are the demand of the times, the demand for reforms in Uzbekistan!” form a legal policy in the country aimed at supporting freedom of speech and the development of the media.

In order to strengthen the legal foundations for ensuring freedom of speech and the effective operation of the media, more than 20 legal acts have been adopted in the country, including the laws “On the openness of the activities of public authorities and administration”, “On the mass media”, “On guarantees and freedom of access to information”, “On the principles and guarantees of freedom of information”, “On the protection of the professional activities of a journalist”, “On informatization”, etc.

In general, large-scale work has been done in a fairly short period to ensure freedom of speech, access to information and the development of the media.

Thus, as part of the further liberalization of the activities of the media and ensuring the rights of journalists, on April 18, 2018, amendments and additions were made to the laws “On the Mass Media” and “On the Protection of the Professional Activities of a Journalist”.

In particular, websites were defined as mass media, mechanisms were created to support the media from the state (providing tax benefits, other mandatory payments and tariffs, preferences, government subsidies, grants and social orders, as well as social support for editorial staff).

In May 2018, by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the country's first University of Journalism and Mass Communications was established, which opened its doors to students in the same year.

On December 25, 2020, the Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Criminal, Criminal Procedure Codes of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan On Administrative Liability” was adopted, according to which, from the sanctions of Articles 139 (Slander) and 140 (Insult) of the Criminal Code were exclusion of prison sentences.

Thanks to the ongoing policy, there is a dynamic expansion of the information space of Uzbekistan. In particular, over the past 5 years, the number of registered media increased by 352 units and amounted to 1,866 units, of which 630 are Internet media. At the same time, there are more than 1.3 thousand users who identify themselves as a blogger and are actively involved in media activities.

It should be emphasized that the national media began to actively perform the functions of public control, they began to pay attention to the coverage of ongoing reforms, helping to identify and resolve issues of concern to the population, which favorably affects the activities of state bodies, local executive authorities when taking prompt measures to eliminate significant shortcomings in their work.

In addition, it is worth emphasizing that today the relevant expert groups are actively working to prepare amendments to the Constitution of Uzbekistan, aimed, among other things, at increasing the level of ensuring the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens in the field of information.

Thus, it is proposed to state Article 29 of the Constitution in the following wording:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, speech and belief. Everyone has the right to seek, receive and disseminate information.

Everyone has the right to free access to the worldwide Internet and free use of it.

Analysis of legislation in the field of development of online activities in Uzbekistan as a new direction

In 2020, a resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures for the widespread introduction of the digital economy and e-government” was adopted, which laid the foundation for digital reforms. This resolution became the starting point for the implementation of large-scale digital reforms in the republic, defining the main vector for the development of the ICT sector in the near future. According to the document, it is planned to increase the share of electronic public services to 60 percent in 2022.

The Decree of the President "On approval of the Strategy "Digital Uzbekistan - 2030" and measures for its effective implementation", adopted on October 5, 2020, includes "road maps" for the digital transformation of priority economic sectors and regions. It is planned to introduce more than 400 information systems, electronic services and other software products as part of the socio-economic development of the regions, as well as more than 280 for the automation of management, production and logistics processes at enterprises in the real sector of the economy.

One of the priority areas is the development of the Electronic Government system. Fundamental reforms are being carried out aimed at creating an effective mechanism for interactive interaction between state bodies and the population, increasing the openness and transparency of the activities of civil services.

Among the most significant projects within the framework of the E-government, the Unified Identification System for Citizens OneID (https://id.gov.uz/) can be noted. With its help, citizens can access various government electronic resources while maintaining the confidentiality of their data. The new version of the system simplifies the user registration system, integrates with the ID-card issuance system with automatic creation of an owner account.

Today, this system integrates more than 60 information systems and resources of state bodies and organizations. Among them are the Virtual Reception of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the National Job Base of the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, the Portal of Public Utilities and Housing Fund E-Kommunal, the Single Site of the One Window Centers, the Portal of collective appeals Mening Fikrim and others. The number of users of this system exceeded 820 thousand people.

In order to keep records of information systems of state bodies implemented and are being implemented in the E-government system, as well as to transfer the processes for reviewing design and technical documentation into electronic format, the Unified Register of Information Systems and Information Resources of the Electronic Government System was developed and launched (www.reestr.uz).

A new version of the Register of reference books and classifiers of the E-government has also been developed. The main goals are the formation, storage, updating and replenishment of modern directories and classifiers of information systems of state bodies on the basis of uniform requirements within the framework of interdepartmental electronic cooperation. To date, 41 classifiers have been entered in the Register by 13 organizations.

Together with the State Statistics Committee, a new version of the Open Data Portal is being developed. The updated version of the portal will integrate information systems of state bodies, and a monitoring system will be created for timely updating of data. To date, more than 11 thousand databases have been hosted on the portal by 149 government departments, the number of their applications has exceeded 7.5 million.

The ongoing reforms in the field of e-government have earned high praise from the international community. In the Open Data Inventory (ODIN), our country, having scored 63 points, rose 125 positions up and took 44th place in the world, becoming the leader in Central Asia. And in the UN study on the level of development of E-government-2020, according to the rating of the Global Open Data Index, Uzbekistan was awarded the highest indicator (Very High OGDI) and ranked 41st among 193 countries of the world.

In order to further improve the e-government system, a Presidential Decree “On additional measures to further create favorable conditions for the population and business entities when using public services, and reduce bureaucratic barriers in this direction” was adopted. It is aimed at further improving the system of public services through the widespread introduction of the most relevant and popular types of services, and the elimination of unnecessary bureaucratic procedures.

An important role in the digitalization processes is given to the Unified Portal of Interactive Public Services (EPIGU). EPIGU has become the starting point in the digital development of Uzbekistan: public services are provided remotely and in real time. Today, there are more than 250 services in the EPIGU system.

Over the entire period of its existence, EPIGU has gone from a government portal to a full-fledged multifunctional Internet environment, where users are provided with a whole range of virtual public services, including information and payment services.

The Internet environment means that consumers receive services through various gadgets -using a computer or a mobile application on a smartphone. General "mobilization" is the general trend of our time, inextricably linked with the processes of digitalization. Mobile applications play an important role here.

In order to create even greater convenience for the population, in accordance with the above-mentioned Decree, from June 1, 2021, the procedure for demanding a number of information and documents from the population and business entities, which now state bodies, business organizations, local executive authorities, state organizations and institutions must inquire on your own.

A procedure has been introduced for issuing a number of documents on an extraterritorial basis, regardless of the place of permanent (temporary) registration of citizens, including registration of acts of civil status, medical examination of persons entering into marriage, and issuance of a biometric passport for traveling abroad.

Analysis of the management system in the field of information and communications indicates the achievement of certain results in this sphere

Thus, by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated February 2, 2019 No. UP-5653 “On additional measures for the further development of the information sphere and mass communications”, the Agency for Information and Mass Communications was established under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (AIMK) on the basis of the Uzbek Agency for Press and information.

Since its inception, AIMC has effectively ensured the implementation of the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of speech and information, has contributed to strengthening the role of the media in the socio-political and socio-economic development of the country, has been pursuing an active policy to create equal conditions for them in the media market, and has also protected the rights of journalists.

In 2019, the President adopted a decision to develop the activities of the press services of state bodies, ensuring their openness to the people, close interaction with the media, journalists and bloggers, promptly informing the media and society on topical issues, as well as raising the status of press secretaries to the level of deputy head departments.

It should be noted that at present more than 600 press secretaries carry out information activities in Uzbekistan. The measures taken made it possible to saturate the information field of Uzbekistan with information about ongoing reforms and the work of state bodies in this direction.

Thus, today more than half of the news information flow on the Internet is formed through the active work of the press services of state bodies.

Today, new opportunities for working with appeals have been created on the websites of government bodies. In particular, on the website of the Ministry of Justice (www.minjust.uz) a section “Virtual Reception of the Minister of Justice” has been created. Each person may apply to the Minister with a statement, complaint or proposal. Citizens who do not use the Internet can apply through "helplines". You can contact the justice authorities by calling the number "1008".

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has created a Service for working with virtual appeals, which has its own divisions in the structural and territorial bodies of internal affairs, while the functioning of the electronic system for receiving applications has been established, "field meetings" are organized, open dialogues with the population on the ground, in mahallas, organizations and educational institutions. In particular, the Department of Legal Support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs consults citizens in the Khalq Bilan Muloqot / Dialogue with the People group on the Facebook social network.

The official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (www.iiv.uz) regularly informs users of social networks about the work carried out in the internal affairs bodies to prevent crime, fight crime, etc.

The above examples indicate that Uzbekistan has created an unprecedented integrated system for receiving and considering applications from individuals and legal entities under the control of the President and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and contributing to the timely resolution of needs, needs and problems, primarily socially vulnerable categories of the population.

In addition, on September 14, 2019, the Public Council for the Development of the Information Sphere and Mass Communications was established under the Parliament of the country in order to increase the importance of public organizations in shaping public opinion on topical issues in the information sphere. It includes representatives of the media, public organizations, science and culture, as well as deputies, independent experts and specialists from other civil society institutions.