Kyrgyzstan bans online porn in crackdown on internet freedoms
FILE PHOTO: Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov attends a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool/File Photo
BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan has banned access to online pornography and imposed state control over internet traffic under new laws signed by President Sadyr Japarov, his office said on Tuesday.
Japarov's office said the ban on pornography is to "protect moral and ethical values" in mostly Muslim Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous Central Asian country of 7 million people which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The legislation requires internet providers to block websites based on decisions by the ministry of culture. Violators will face fines.
Once Central Asia's most democratic country, Kyrgyzstan has seen increasing pressure on opposition groups and independent media since Japarov, a populist and nationalist, swept to power on a wave of protests in 2020.
He has made the protection of what he calls traditional Kyrgyz values a centrepiece of his agenda.
Also on Tuesday, Japarov signed a decree imposing a state monopoly on international internet traffic.
Under the decree, state-owned telecoms company ElCat will become Kyrgyzstan's sole provider of international internet traffic for a year-long trial period, starting on August 15.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days
Singapore Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high, driven by events like Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ISD
Singapore S'pore can and must meaningfully apply tech like AI in a way that creates jobs for locals: PM Wong
Singapore 7, including child and firefighter, taken to hospital after fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat
Sport IOC president Kirsty Coventry a 'huge supporter' of Singapore
Singapore ICA inspector obtained bribes in the form of sex acts from 6 foreign men in exchange for his help
Singapore Doctor who forged certificates for aesthetic procedures gets 4 months' jail
Singapore 12 motorists nabbed for providing illegal private-hire services: LTA
All other Kyrgyz telecom operators will be required to transfer their contracts for international bandwidth to ElCat within two months.
Bishkek-based political analyst Emil Juraev told Reuters: 'This decision only adds to the growing role of the state at the expense of market freedom in Kyrgyzstan.'
The move comes ahead of a parliamentary election due in 2026, and a presidential poll due in 2027. Japarov, whose allies dominate the legislature, has indicated he will run again. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- Straits Times
No entry: ICA to bar high-risk, undesirable travellers from boarding Singapore-bound ships, flights
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox As of June 30, ICA said some 93 million travellers have cleared immigration without needing to present their passports. SINGAPORE – High-risk or undesirable travellers who pose a health, security, or immigration threat to Singapore will soon be denied the chance to board air or sea transport to travel here. The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will be able to issue no-boarding directives (NBDs) to transport operators to prevent such travellers from boarding ships and flights bound for Singapore. ICA plans to roll out the NBDs to prevent arrivals at air checkpoints from 2026 and at sea checkpoints from 2028. Transport operators who fail to comply with an NBD can be fined up to $10,000. The move comes in the wake of the Immigration (Amendment) Act that came into force on Dec 31, 2024. An initial plan, first reported in 2023 , to weed out such passengers travelling into Singapore through land checkpoints faced roadblocks, as the proposal would have required bus operators to collect and submit passenger information in advance. Bus operators with routes across the Causeway had told The Straits Times in 2023 that the plan to submit in advance passenger information to ICA could be difficult to implement and might affect business. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 17-member committee to drive roll-out of autonomous vehicles in Singapore Singapore Over half of job applications by retrenched Jetstar Asia staff led to offers or interviews: CEO Singapore Underground pipe leak likely reason for water supply issues during Toa Payoh fire: Town council Business Singapore gold investment soars 37% to 2.2 tonnes in Q2 while jewellery demand wanes Multimedia 60 years, 60 items: A National Day game challenge Asia US-Malaysia tariff deal set for Aug 1 after Trump-Anwar phone call Singapore 'Switching careers just as I became a dad was risky, but I had to do it for my family' On July 31, ICA said that while collecting passenger and crew information in advance has been the norm for airline and ship operators, such information is generally not readily available at land checkpoints. ST understands the authorities are still looking into ways to implement similar measures at land checkpoints. Meanwhile, enhancements to Singapore's border security, including through new profiling and detection capabilities, have allowed ICA to identify more high-risk travellers before their arrival to Singapore. This has translated into a 43 per cent increase in the number of foreigners refused entry into the Republic in the first half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024 . People who can be denied entry include those who had been previously barred from entering Singapore after being convicted of certain crimes. On July 31, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam attended the official opening of the ICA services centre (ISC) in Crawford Street. The centre, which came into service in April, is adjacent to the previous ICA building. Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said ICA's transformation comes at a time of increasing traveller volumes across the nation's borders. He pointed out that traveller volumes through Singapore's checkpoints increased to 230 million passengers in 2024, compared with the 197 million who passed through the Republic's borders in 2015. Mr Shanmugam said traveller volume is expected to increase further with the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System that is expected to be operational in December 2026; the Changi Airport Terminal 5 slated to open by the mid-2030s; and the expansion of Woodlands Checkpoint over the next 10 to 15 years. He said: 'But the limitation is that ICA's manpower cannot grow indefinitely, so we have been drawing more on technology to cope with this demand and to really navigate the more complex security environment.' To that end, ICA said it has achieved its vision to transform checkpoint clearance operations by becoming among the first border agencies in the world to implement passport-less immigration clearance. This was part of ICA's New Clearance Concept that was first announced in 2019, to provide faster and more secure immigration clearance. All travellers to and from Singapore can now clear immigration in an automated, passport-less process. This involves a facial or iris biometric scan at air and sea checkpoints, or clearance using a QR-code for those travelling through land checkpoints. As of June 30, ICA said some 93 million travellers have cleared immigration without needing to present their passports. Mr Shanmugam said the implementation of QR-code clearance has been a game-changer for those travelling through Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, with clearance time being reduced by up to 30 per cent from before. ICA is also planning to roll out its automated passenger clearance system (APCS) at the Tuas Checkpoint for those travelling in cars, motorcycles and cargo vehicles by end-2026, without the need to use counters manned by officers. ICA said the automated process will allow them to operate more efficiently. The APCS will be implemented at Woodlands Checkpoint at a later time. The authority said around 95 per cent of its services have gone digital, and more than 95 per cent of the public are submitting their applications online. Superintendent Kalaivanan Pannerchilvam, deputy director of customer operations at ICA, said: 'A key feature of the ISC is the self-collection kiosks, where eligible customers can collect their passports and identity cards via these kiosks, anytime within the date of appointment.' Those using the kiosks will need to input their personal identification information, and complete iris verification before collecting their documents. Customers can collect both their passports and identity cards on the same day in one transaction at the kiosk. The self-collection kiosks are part of the ISC's Integrated Smart Document Management system, which was launched in July. The retrieval and delivery of documents, which was previously managed by ICA officers, are now done by robots.
Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- Straits Times
New Zealand ends Ardern-era ban on oil and gas exploration
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses Yale's graduates on Class Day, a day before commencement ceremonies, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. May 18, 2025. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston/File Photo New Zealand's parliament on Thursday passed legislation to reopen the country for offshore oil and gas exploration, lifting a ban imposed by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The law will allow companies to apply as early as September for petroleum exploration permits beyond onshore Taranaki, an energy-rich region on the country's North Island. Environmental groups said the decision to restart exploration was a setback for the country's transition to renewable energy. 'This government keeps choosing to undermine our resilience rather than transition to clean, green energy,' said Green Party Climate spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick. In 2018, the centre-left Labour government led by Ardern halted the granting of new offshore oil and gas exploration permits in a bid to tackle climate change and reduce New Zealand's reliance on fossil fuels. Since winning power in late 2023, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's conservative government has passed numerous measures rolling back Labour's progressive agenda, including repealing rebates for green cars and fast-tracking mining projects. Resources Minister Shane Jones, an advocate for the fossil fuel sector, said Ardern's ban had reduced new investment in the oil and gas sector and exacerbated domestic energy shortages. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore No entry: ICA to bar high-risk, undesirable travellers from boarding S'pore-bound ships, flights Singapore 17-member committee to drive roll-out of autonomous vehicles in Singapore Singapore Over half of job applications by retrenched Jetstar Asia staff led to offers or interviews: CEO Singapore Underground pipe leak likely reason for water supply issues during Toa Payoh fire: Town council Business Singapore gold investment soars 37% to 2.2 tonnes in Q2 while jewellery demand wanes Multimedia 60 years, 60 items: A National Day game challenge Asia US-Malaysia tariff deal set for Aug 1 after Trump-Anwar phone call Singapore 'Switching careers just as I became a dad was risky, but I had to do it for my family' 'This government is pragmatic about the vital role natural gas will play in our energy mix in the decades ahead and we have set a course for greater energy security backed by our own indigenous reserves,' Jones said. The bill passed by 68 votes to 54. REUTERS
Straits Times
39 minutes ago
- Straits Times
India PM Modi faces opposition fury after Trump's 25% tariff threat
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands as they attend a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo NEW DELHI - Indian opposition parties criticised the government on Thursday, describing U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of a 25% tariff as a diplomatic failure for New Delhi, while the rupee currency tumbled and equity indexes slid in response to the news. The 25% rate would single out India more harshly than other major trading partners, and threatens to unravel months of talks, undermining one of Washington's strategic partners in the region, viewed as a counterbalance to China. Trump said the tariff on goods imports from India would start from Friday, in addition to an unspecified penalty for Russian dealings and involvement in the BRICS grouping of nations, but added later that trade talks continued. In response, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was studying the implications of Trump's remarks and was dedicated to securing a fair trade deal. "This development reflects a broader collapse of foreign policy under the Modi government," a lawmaker of the main opposition Congress said in a notice asking for a discussion of the matter in the lower house. The debate would focus on the "government's economic and diplomatic failure in preventing the imposition of 25% U.S. tariffs plus penalties on Indian exports," it added. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to brief the lower house later on Thursday, television news channels said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 17-member committee to drive roll-out of autonomous vehicles in Singapore Asia US-Malaysia tariff deal set for Aug 1 after Trump-Anwar phone call Singapore Underground pipe leak likely reason for water supply issues during Toa Payoh fire: Town council Business Singapore gold investment soars 37% to 2.2 tonnes in Q2 while jewellery demand wanes Multimedia 60 years, 60 items: A National Day game challenge Life Milo tees, kaya toast pimple patches, crockery: Here are the SG60 merch to collect Business Deepening Singapore-Latin America ties a matter of urgency amid global trade uncertainty: Alvin Tan Singapore 'Switching careers just as I became a dad was risky, but I had to do it for my family' Economists warned the steep tariff could hurt India's manufacturing ambitions and trim up to 40 basis points from economic growth in the financial year to March 2026. India's benchmark equity indices, the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex, fell about 0.6% each, while the rupee declined to 87.74, its lowest in more than five months, before paring losses. India has received a "raw deal", said Priyanka Kishore, an economist at Asia Decoded. "While further trade talks may bring the tariff rate down, it appears unlikely that India will secure a significantly better outcome than its eastern neighbours," she added. That would raise questions about India's relative appeal as a China plus one destination, she said, referring to a strategy of diversifying supply chains through manufacturing outside China to reduce geopolitical and operational risks. Trade talks continued, Trump said on social media, however, as nations face a Friday deadline to strike deals on reciprocal tariffs or have a U.S. tariff slapped on their exports. The U.S. levy on India exceeds those achieved by some other nations in deals with the Trump administration. For example, the tariff on Vietnam is set at 20% and on Indonesia at 19%, with levies of 15% on Japanese and European Union exports. On Wednesday, Trump said Washington had reached a trade deal with India's arch-rival Pakistan that Islamabad said would lead to lower tariffs on its exports, but neither side have yet revealed the agreed rate. Since India's short but deadly conflict with Pakistan in May, New Delhi has been unhappy about Trump's closeness with Islamabad and has protested, casting a shadow over trade talks. Despite former public displays of bonhomie between Trump and Modi, India has taken a slightly harder stance against the United States in recent weeks. Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire he announced on social media on May 10, but India disputes his claim that it resulted from his intervention and trade threats. "The country is now bearing the cost of Narendra Modi's friendship," Congress said. The United States, the world's largest economy, now has a trade deficit of $45.7 billion with India, the fifth largest. Russia remained India's top oil supplier during the first six months of 2025, accounting for 35% of overall supplies. "I don't care what India does with Russia," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday, adding, "They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care." REUTERS
