The Kyrgyz government has announced its decision to ban popular Chinese social media app TikTok, which has been heavily criticized.
According to Huriyet Network, social media users in Kyrgyzstan will not be able to use TikTok from April 18. In a statement released by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Digital Development, the National Security Commission sent a letter to Internet service providers to inform them of their decision to ban the use of TikTok in the country.
It is reported that the Ministry of Culture, Communication, Sports and Youth of Kyrgyzstan has announced that it will ban TikTok in August 2023. The Kyrgyz government has received a number of complaints from many non-governmental organizations that TikTok has a negative impact on the mental development and health of children, and accordingly, the content on TikTok will be banned. The investigation found that TikTok does not really restrict access to information that harms children's health and development, and that young adults have little or no control over the information they access on TikTok. Therefore, the government has submitted an application to the Ministry of Digital Development for the validity of this decision. According to the people's request, the Ministry has decided to terminate the service of TikTok in Kyrgyzstan.
The decision announced in this regard emphasizes that the decision to ban TikTok has no political background, and that the measure is only intended to protect children from information that negatively affects their moral education and harms their psychological health.