You're reading: Tajikistan blocks leading independent news website

Internet service providers in Tajikistan have blocked access to leading local independent news website Asia-Plus at the government's request.

The move came into effect June 12 after the state communications agency ordered the block for what it described as technical reasons.

Servers for Asia-Plus, which frequently publishes material heavily critical of the Central Asian nation’s authoritarian government, are based abroad and the site can still be accessed worldwide.

In March, service providers blocked Facebook and several opposition sites at the government’s behest, following wide online circulation of an article predicting unrest in the impoverished former Soviet nation.

Tajikistan has low levels of Internet penetration, but authorities have nonetheless proven nervous at signs government opponents could use online media to mobilize.