AIMC: Meta satisfied 80% of Uzbekistan’s 23,000 takedown requests

Meta and TikTok have complied with 80–90% of requests from Uzbek authorities to remove content deemed illegal. However, platforms like Telegram and YouTube have shown lower response rates, according to Dilshod Saidjonov, First Deputy Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AIMC). The agency is also working with Meta to prevent the appearance of offensive and abusive Uzbek-language terms on Facebook and Instagram.

On June 10, a roundtable titled “Promoting Safe Social Media Use Among Youth and Teenagers” was held in Tashkent, co-organized by the Mass Media Foundation and Meta. A Kun.uz reporter covered the event.

Speaking at the event, Dilshod Saidjonov responded to a question regarding AIMC’s cooperation with Meta.

“We’re working closely with Meta,” he said. “We’ve compiled various forms of offensive and abusive words commonly used in the Uzbek-language segment of the internet, which fall into the 'ban' category. One thing we must admit is that those using profanity are incredibly imaginative. The number of such words has grown substantially – they appear in Cyrillic, Latin, mixed scripts, even English. Based on users’ education levels, some spell them correctly, others make mistakes. We were surprised by the volume. You could even create a dictionary out of them.”

Saidjonov noted that Meta is assisting with artificial intelligence tools to help prevent such words from appearing on its platforms.

“Meta has promised to help ensure these words don’t appear on Facebook or Instagram. We believe this partnership will yield excellent results,” he added.

According to Saidjonov, AIMC has established a direct communication channel with a Meta representative, through which approximately 80% of content removal requests submitted by the agency have been successfully fulfilled. In other words, Meta is taking down the majority of content on Facebook and Instagram that Uzbekistan’s authorities classify as illegal.

“As a monitoring agency, we can easily detect extremist content on Instagram and Facebook. We’ve built a strong partnership with Meta, and they respond to our requests quickly,” he said.

“To give a brief statistic: In 2024 alone, we sent over 23,000 links to Meta. They resolved 80% of them – most related to extremist content. And now, only halfway through 2025, the number of our requests has already surpassed 40,000. The problem is, as soon as we shut down one extremist source, ten more appear. If we close those, a hundred more follow. Unfortunately, this is the reality.”

Saidjonov emphasized that AIMC will continue sending takedown requests and expressed hope that Meta’s support would grow stronger over time.

He also clarified to Kun.uz that the agency’s requests are not made for censorship purposes, but in accordance with Uzbekistan’s legislation.

“We don’t submit requests to censor posts, but to remove content defined as illegal under Article 12-1 of the Law on Informatization. This includes extremist materials, drug trafficking content, pornography, content promoting suicide, inciting national or ethnic hatred, promoting cruelty, and illegal arms trade,” he said.

“Meta has its own legal framework – their community guidelines. For the cooperation to be effective, our laws must align with theirs. In most cases, they do. We explain the context, and Meta recognizes the content as harmful and takes action accordingly,” he added.

As for other platforms, Saidjonov noted that TikTok is also responsive, fulfilling about 90% of AIMC’s requests. Meta follows, while Telegram and YouTube cooperate, but with much lower effectiveness in response to takedown requests.

Earlier, AIMC had submitted a draft law on social media regulation for public discussion.