Editing Uzbekistan (section)

== Communications ==
{{Main|Communications in Uzbekistan}}
According to the official source report, as of 10 March 2008, the number of cellular phone users in Uzbekistan reached 7 million, up from 3.7 million on 1 July 2007.<ref>Uzbekistan agency for Communication and Information (UzACI) [http://www.aci.uz] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715223738/http://aci.uz/|date=15 July 2007}} and UzDaily.com [http://www.uzdaily.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626054241/http://www.uzdaily.com/|date=26 June 2007}}</ref> Mobile users in 2017 were more than 24 million.<ref>{{cite web | title=ITU Statistics | url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2019/Mobile_cellular_2000-2018_Jun2019.xls | website=ITU | access-date=20 November 2019 | archive-date=17 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417035600/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2019/Mobile_cellular_2000-2018_Jun2019.xls | url-status=live }}</ref> The largest mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers is MTS-Uzbekistan (former [[Uzdunrobita]] and part of Russian Mobile TeleSystems) and it is followed by Beeline (part of Russia's Beeline) and UCell (ex Coscom) (originally part of the U.S. MCT Corp., now a subsidiary of the Nordic/Baltic telecommunication company [[TeliaSonera]] AB).<ref>[http://www.uzdaily.com/articles-id-832.htm TeleSonera AB acquires Coscom] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608035053/http://www.uzdaily.com/articles-id-832.htm |date=8 June 2010 }}, UzDaily.com, 17 July 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2009.</ref>

As of 2019, the estimated number of internet users was more than 22 million<ref>{{cite web|last=uz|first=Kun|title=Number of Internet users in Uzbekistan exceeds 22.1 million|url=https://kun.uz/en/news/2020/12/12/number-of-internet-users-in-uzbekistan-exceeds-221-million|access-date=5 January 2021|website=Kun.uz|archive-date=19 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119025120/https://kun.uz/en/news/2020/12/12/number-of-internet-users-in-uzbekistan-exceeds-221-million|url-status=live}}</ref> or about 52% of the population.<ref>{{cite web|title=Individuals using the Internet (% of population) - Uzbekistan {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=UZ|access-date=5 January 2021|website=data.worldbank.org|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417212019/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=UZ|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Internet Censorship]] exists in Uzbekistan and in October 2012 the government toughened internet censorship by blocking access to proxy servers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131224094142/http://www.uznews.net/news_single.php?lng=en&cid=30&nid=20980 Uzbekistan toughens Internet censorship]. uznews.net (11 October 2012)</ref> [[Reporters Without Borders]] has named Uzbekistan's government an "Enemy of the Internet" and government control over the internet has increased dramatically since the start of the [[Arab Spring]].<ref name=BBC_1>{{cite web |date=5 January 2012 |title=Uzbekistan profile |website=BBC News |access-date=29 November 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16218808 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821021943/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16218808 |archive-date=21 August 2013 }}</ref>

The press in Uzbekistan practices [[self-censorship]] and foreign journalists have been gradually expelled from the country since the [[Andijan massacre]] of 2005 when government troops fired into crowds of protesters killing 187 according to official reports and estimates of several hundred by unofficial and witness accounts.{{r|BBC_1}}