Tajikistan launches state-backed messenger app

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ALMATY (Reuters) -Tajikistan’s communications service said on Tuesday that it had launched a national messenger app, mimicking similar projects in Russia and Kazakhstan, which critics have warned could compromise user data.

In a statement, the Tajik government communications service said the launch of the app, ORIZ, was: “an important step towards Tajikistan’s digital independence.”

It said the app would be aimed in part at the millions of Tajik migrants working in Russia, where access to Telegram and WhatsApp is limited, and that all user data would be stored within Tajikistan.

“Dependence on foreign networks can harm information security”, it said.

Tajikistan, the poorest of the former Soviet republics, has been governed since the early 1990s by President Emomali Rahmon, who came to power during a civil war and continues to keep the country’s politics under tight control.

Several post-Soviet countries have in recent years signalled interest in launching national messenger services to supplant WhatsApp and Telegram, both of which remain widely used in the region.

Russian officials have been promoting Moscow’s state-backed MAX messenger, whilst Kazakhstan has done the same with its Aitu app.

(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)