DUSHANBE, April 28, Asia-Plus  -- Monthly Internet audience in Tajikistan is currently estimated at 15,000-20,000, which only 0.28 percent of the country’s population, Saymiddin Doustov, the head of the Republican Foundation Indem, which is founder of the Dushanbe independent weekly Nigoh (View), announced at a monthly roundtable meeting, which is held in Dushanbe on the last Saturday in each month to discuss different problems facing Tajik media. 

The meeting that was held on April 26 was dedicated to consider issues related to information security of Tajikistan.  

According to Doustov, the country’s authorities do not pay a proper attention to development of Internet.  

“There are no state-run Internet websites among the ten top Internet portals of Tajnet, defined by Toptj.com,” said the Indem head.  “This points to government’s having not paid proper attention to this area.”  

“The number of Internet users rises on average 25 percent year out; however, the summarized data remains unsatisfactory,” said Doustov, “I have managed to get statistics only for 2006, and according to it, in 2006, the number of Internet users in Tajikistan was estimated at only 80,000.”

“Active participation of authorities in this space is of great significance for our information security year,” Doustov said, citing as example “informational wars,” when various reports insulting Tajik people and discrediting high-ranking Tajik state officials are published.     

Speaking on providing information security in the field of TV broadcasting, he noted that some 50 percent of programs of the national TV Channel One “are broadcast on not state language.”  He also expressed concern over the fact that “Tajikistan’s border areas are covered by Uzbek media.”