Digital Control is the Next Step Towards Tyranny
News:
As of August 2025, a government monopoly has been imposed on international internet traffic in Kyrgyzstan, with control being transferred to the state-owned Elkat company.
Comment:
This step has been officially justified by the need to ensure national security, digital sovereignty, and combat harmful content. But behind these formal justifications lie deeper political motives that indicate an escalating authoritarian shift in the country. The internet monopoly is not just a technical decision, but a key element in controlling the information space ahead of the elections scheduled for 2026-2027.
Granting exclusive rights to a single state-owned company means eliminating competition, concentrating data traffic, and creating an environment for complete control over the flow of information. All outgoing and incoming internet traffic will now pass through a single government gateway, giving the authority the power to monitor, filter, slow down, and even block access to sites it deems "undesirable." Under the guise of combating pornography, cyber threats, and subversive propaganda, the state actually gains technical tools for political censorship and suppression of dissenting views.
Of particular concern is that this measure may target not only the secular opposition, but also political and social Islamic activity. At a time when traditional forms of opposition have been dismantled - through pressure on the media, banning demonstrations, and destroying civil organizations - the Islamic intellectual environment remains among the few platforms that direct genuine criticism of the authority and the capitalist system as a whole. Islamic groups, educational initiatives, and religious channels on social media constitute not only a political alternative, but also a principled one, contributing to the shaping of public opinion. This represents a threat to the authoritarian regime, which cannot compete even at the level of a worldview.
The internet monopoly enables the technical isolation of this Islamic alternative. The state can block resources that do not pass through filtering mechanisms, such as political articles, Islamic lectures, video lessons, blogs, and educational platforms not approved by the authority. Under the slogan of combating extremism, channels that pose no threat may be closed, but they offer a model for community life other than that practiced by secularists. This is not protection from extremism, but suppression of the intellectual sphere.
The electoral context cannot be ignored either, as the authority feels unstable, loses legitimate contact with the people, and lacks confidence, so it prefers administration by control and coercion, rather than political dialogue. The internet monopoly, at a critical moment, allows slowing down or even cutting off communication, blocking Telegram channels, deleting unwanted messages, and restricting the publication of videos and live broadcasts. It is, in fact, preparing to digitally isolate people at a fateful moment in public life, all without the need for justifications, by controlling the infrastructure, not through legal channels.
The consequences of this step are clear; Kyrgyzstan will lose what remains of its digital freedom, which distinguished it in the region. The flight of young people and technology specialists, accustomed to the open internet and freedom of access, will increase. Social trust will weaken, and distrust of institutions will intensify. More seriously, the authority will tighten its grip, where dissenting expression becomes technically impossible, and the authority ultimately becomes unaccountable.
The internet monopoly is not an economic reform, but a dividing political line, behind which lies digital tyranny, where alternative ideas and words are replaced by "stability". If society does not realize this today, tomorrow access to information and news may become as impossible as it was behind bars.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Latif Al-Rasikh
