Meta Approved 80% of Uzbekistan’s Requests to Remove Undesirable Content

Meta and TikTok platforms closely cooperate with AIMC and fulfill up to 80-90% of requests to remove content deemed illegal by Uzbek authorities, reports Kun.uz, citing Deputy Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications Dilshod Saidjonov.

According to the information, the agency has begun to work closely with Meta to identify and remove undesirable content. In particular, the agency has collected various versions of rude and offensive words falling into the category of “prohibited”, which are used in the Uzbek segment of the internet, which Meta has promised to prevent on its platforms.

The Deputy Director of Agency for Information and Mass Communications noted that the volume of selected vocabulary turned out to be quite extensive, as users can use Cyrillic, Latin, mixed variants, as well as forms in English when writing, including both correct and incorrect spellings.

We were surprised by the volume of the resulting material ourselves. You could compile an entire dictionary from it, — noted Dilshod Saidjonov.

The specialist also said that Meta plans to involve artificial intelligence in the work, and expressed hope that the cooperation will bear good fruit. Dilshod Saidjonov emphasized that currently almost 80% of the requests sent by the agency are successfully fulfilled, so the company has removed most of the content that Uzbek authorities deemed illegal.

We are engaged in monitoring, so extremist content on Facebook and Instagram is clearly visible to us. We have established an excellent interaction platform with Meta, and they respond promptly to our requests, — stated the Deputy Director of Agency for Information and Mass Communications.

Dilshod Saidjonov provided statistics according to which in 2024 the agency sent Meta more than 23 thousand links, 80% of which were processed. Moreover, according to the expert, most of them were related to extremist materials.

Now only half of 2025 has passed, and we have already sent over 40 thousand requests. That is, as soon as we close one extremist resource, ten more appear, and behind them another hundred. Unfortunately, this is the reality. AIMC will continue to send requests. Meta helps us, our cooperation is built on a solid foundation. I hope the percentage of positive responses will grow, — said the agency representative.

It was also noted that the agency sends requests to Meta not for censorship reasons, but based on legislation, in particular on Article 12-1 of the law “On Informatization”, which lists categories of illegal content. This primarily includes extremist materials, followed by drug distribution, pornography, suicide propaganda, incitement of ethnic hatred, scenes of cruelty, and materials related to arms trafficking.

The company, in turn, is guided by its own Guidelines, which often overlap with Uzbekistan’s legislation, allowing for more effective cooperation.

In most cases, this is what happens: we explain the essence of the request, and they acknowledge that the content indeed violates the norms, after which they help with removal, — the expert said about the interaction with Meta.

Regarding TikTok’s activities, Dilshod Saidjonov noted that the platform also satisfies about 90% of the agency’s requests. The expert cited slightly lower effectiveness for Telegram and YouTube platforms, which also interact with Agency for Information and Mass Communications, but show a significantly lower response rate.

It was previously reported that in Uzbekistan, they will define the rights of users of websites and platforms. The new law will protect citizens from “false information”.