Tajikistan Scraps Prison Sentences for ‘Liking’ Banned Social Media Content

DUSHANBE, 14 May 2025 (BSS/AFP) – Tajikistan on Wednesday repealed a controversial law that had resulted in the imprisonment of over 1,500 people for engaging with banned content on social media, marking a rare easing of restrictions on free speech in the Central Asian nation.

Under the now-abolished legislation, social media users faced criminal prosecution for ‘liking’, sharing, or commenting on posts deemed “terrorist” or “extremist” by the authorities. Such terms have frequently been used by the Tajik government to target political opponents, independent activists, and journalists.

President Emomali Rakhmon signed the amendments to remove criminal liability for interacting with such content online, including the use of ‘likes’ and emojis, his office announced on Wednesday.

However, the statement did not clarify whether the law’s repeal would be applied retroactively, leaving uncertain the fate of those currently imprisoned under the now-defunct legislation.

The Tajik prosecutor’s office has reported that 1,507 people are currently serving sentences for activities such as “liking videos and online posts or publishing comments with terrorist or extremist content.”

Last year, Rakhmon himself criticised the heavy-handed enforcement of the law, rebuking police for “bringing criminal charges against individuals without sufficient basis.” He called for an end to such practices, describing them as a misuse of legal powers.

Rakhmon has ruled Tajikistan, a mountainous, landlocked country bordering China, Afghanistan, and other former Soviet republics, since 1992. He has often credited his leadership with stabilising the nation following a brutal five-year civil war in the 1990s, but international human rights organisations accuse him of presiding over a deeply repressive regime.

Freedom House, a US-based democracy advocacy group, has labelled Tajikistan an “authoritarian regime” that “severely restricts political rights and civil liberties.”