Database

Browse Database

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2024

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Export restrictions on ICT goods, products and online services
Export restriction
It is reported that the export of audiovisual materials, other media, containing information that may harm the political and economic interests of Turkmenistan, its state security, public health and morality is prohibited.
Coverage Video and audio materials

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2023

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Export restrictions on ICT goods, products and online services
Export restriction
It is reported that the export of scientific research, technology and inventions must be approved by the President and the Cabinet of Ministers.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2023

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Other import restrictions, including non-transparent/discriminatory import procedures
Import restrictions
It is reported that slow and bureaucratic customs procedures inhibit efficient movement of goods and trade. Turkmenistan often requires that export and import contracts be registered at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange (SCRME), the only exchange in the country. Contract registration at the commodities exchange is a cumbersome process, involving approval from various agencies and ministries.The contract registration procedure at SCRME includes a justification of prices and the contract’s feasibility is also scrutinized by the Supreme Chamber of Control. The procedure applies not only to contracts signed at SCRME, but also to contracts signed between third parties. All import contracts must be registered before goods are delivered to Turkmenistan.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2024

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Import ban applied on ICT goods, products and online services
Import ban
It is reported that the import of audiovisual materials, other media, containing information that may harm the political and economic interests of Turkmenistan, its state security, public health and morality is prohibited.
Coverage Video and audio materials

TURKMENISTAN

Since December 2019, last amended in June 2023

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Licensing schemes for digital services and applications
Law No. 205-VI of Turkmenistan On Licensing of Certain Types of Activities (Türkmenistanyň Kanuny № 205-VI Işiň aýry-aýry görnüşlerini ygtyýarlylandyrmak hakynda)
Art. 22 of Law on Licensing of Certain Types of Activities in Turkmenistan outlines that licenses are required for certain activities and operations specified by law including the following:
- activities in the field of communications;
- activities in the field of cybersecurity; and
- publishing activities.
Coverage Communications sectors, cybersecurity activities, and publishing activities

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2023

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Presence of Internet shutdowns
Presence of Internet shutdowns
Turkmenistan has a long history of Internet outages, and online restrictions have increased in recent years. Full or partial Internet outages were recorded for five non-consecutive months in 2022. In February 2022, Turkmenistan's security services began blocking almost the entire Internet, rather than individual IP addresses. In addition, in March 2022, a one-hour Internet outage was recorded in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, which coincided with preparations for the inauguration of Serdar Berdimuhamedow. In 2022, Turkmenistan reportedly ranked tenth among the countries that suffered the most damage to their economies from government-mandated Internet outages, with the Internet blackouts costing around USD 29 million to the country.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2015, last reported in 2023

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Blocking or filtering of commercial web content
Blocking of commercial web content
There are reports of severe blocking of social networking platforms, foreign media and foreign websites. Furthermore, it is reported that authorities blocked 133 of the most popular worldwide websites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Zoom, Skype, and messaging apps. In addition, the government has also been reported to block sites that offer circumvention tools such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxies since 2015.
Moreover, Turkmenistan is reported to impose strict filtering rules for popular websites and many other websites containing parts of the same domain. It is estimated that the filtering rules could be causing the unintentional blocking of more than 5.4 million domains as collateral damage to the 122,000 blocked domains confirmed in the country.
Coverage Social media platforms, foreign media outlets, websites and VPNs

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2022

Pillar Content access  |  Sub-pillar Presence of Internet shutdowns
Presence of Internet shutdowns
The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 1 in Turkmenistan. This corresponds to "The government shut down domestic access to the Internet numerous times this year."
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Reported in 2021, last reported in 2023

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar User identity requirement
Mandatory SIM card registration
It is reported that Turkmenistan imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card.
Coverage Telecommunications sector

TURKMENISTAN

N/A

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Safe harbor for intermediaries for copyright infringement
Lack of intermediary liability framework in place for copyright infringements
A basic legal framework on intermediary liability for copyright infringement is absent in Turkmenistan's law and jurisprudence. However, there is a limited protection for telecom operators under Art. 50.2 of the Law of Turkmenistan No. 93-IV About communication (Türkmenistanyň Kanuny № 93-IV Aragatnaşyk hakynda), which establishes that the telecom operators are not responsible for the content of information transmitted by their networks.
Coverage Internet intermediaries

TURKMENISTAN

N/A

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Safe harbor for intermediaries for any activity other than copyright infringement
Lack of intermediary liability framework in place beyond copyright infringements
A basic legal framework on intermediary liability beyond copyright infringement is absent in Turkmenistan's law and jurisprudence. However, there is a limited protection for telecom operators under Art. 50.2 of the Law of Turkmenistan No. 93-IV About communication (Türkmenistanyň Kanuny № 93-IV Aragatnaşyk hakynda), which establishes that the telecom operators are not responsible for the content of information transmitted by their networks.
Coverage Internet intermediaries

TURKMENISTAN

Since March 2021, last amended in December 2021
Since August 2015, until March 2021

Pillar Domestic Data policies  |  Sub-pillar Minimum period for data retention
Law of Turkmenistan No. 335-VI About Counteraction of Legalization of Income Gained in the Criminal Way, to Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Distribution of Weapons of Mass Destruction (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 335-VI Jenaýatçylykly ýol bilen alnan girdejileriň kanunlaşdyrylmagyna, terrorçylygyň maliýeleşdirilmegine we köpçülikleýin gyryş ýaragynyň ýaýradylmagynyň maliýeleşdirilmegine garşy hereket etmek hakynda)

Law of Turkmenistan No. 261-V About Counteraction of Legalization of Income Gained in the Criminal Way, to Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Distribution of Weapons of Mass Destruction (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 261-V Jenaýatçylykly ýol bilen alnan girdejileriň kanunlaşdyrylmagyna we terrorçylygyň maliýeleşdirilmegine garşy hereket etmek hakynda)
Art. 12.6 of Law No. 335-VI provides that documents and information obtained as a result of due diligence of the client, including the client's information and correspondence with the client, documents and information on operations or transactions with cash or other property subject to mandatory control and suspicious transactions, as well as the results of the examination of all complex, unusually large and other unusual operations or transactions shall be kept by the persons carrying out the operations for a period of at least five years after the operation or transaction.
Art. 4 states that persons carrying out operations shall include, among others, natural or legal persons providing money or value transfer services; virtual asset service providers; organisers of trades and auctions; individuals and legal entities that are organisers of gambling, lotteries and electronic interactive games; and postal and telegraphic communication organisations providing money transfer services and other organisations carrying out settlements or payments.
Law No. 261-V ceased to be valid since the adoption of Law No. 335-V, however it already incorporated the above-mentioned restriction also in its Art. 12.6.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Since March 2020
Since May 2013, last amended in March 2023

Pillar Domestic Data policies  |  Sub-pillar Minimum period for data retention
Law of Turkmenistan No. 226-VI About the Electronic Document, Electronic Document Management and Digital Services (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 226-VI elektron resminama, elektron resminama dolanyşygy we sanly hyzmatlar hakynda)

Law of Turkmenistan No. 392-IV About Archives and Archiving of Turkmenistan (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 392-IV Türkmenistanyň arhiwleri we arhiw işi hakynda)
Art. 13 of Law No. 226-VI contains provisions for storing electronic documents and archives of electronic documents. Electronic documents must be stored on an electronic storage medium in a form that allows their integrity and authenticity to be verified on the applicable medium. The obligation to store electronic documents lies with the involved parties of electronic document management. This includes any party, whether public or private, that owns the documents, or in whose interests they are to be used, or by whom they are to be stored, protected, blocked or removed, and so forth. Subjects of electronic document management can ensure the storage of electronic documents independently and use the services of an intermediary, archival and other institutions in electronic document management. In addition, Art. 56 provides that the body considering disputes between the subjects of electronic documents, electronic document flow and digital services shall have the right to demand from all subjects involved in the compilation, transmission, receipt, processing and storage of electronic documents the necessary materials and documents concerning the subject of the dispute.
Art. 20 of Law No. 392-IV requires documents in electronic form to be retained for three years.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Since March 2017, entry into force in July 2017

Pillar Domestic Data policies  |  Sub-pillar Framework for data protection
Law of Turkmenistan No. 519-V About Information on Private Life and its Protection (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 519-V şahsy durmuş barada maglumat we ony goramak hakynda)
Act No. 519-V provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Turkmenistan. It provides for data subject rights, data controller obligations, data transfer restrictions, and general principles for the collection and processing of personal information. It does not, however, contain data breach notification requirements, nor does it address the appointment of data protection officers. In addition to Act No. 519-V, the Code for Criminal Liability of 10 May 2010 No. 104-IV provides protection against cybercrimes, and further provisions applicable to data protection can be found in other legislation such as the Code of Turkmenistan of 29 August 2013 No. 422-IV on Administrative Offenses.
Coverage Horizontal

TURKMENISTAN

Since March 2017, entry into force in July 2017

Pillar Cross-border data policies  |  Sub-pillar Conditional flow regime
Law of Turkmenistan No. 519-V About Information on Private Life and its Protection (Türkmenistanyň kanuny № 519-V şahsy durmuş barada maglumat we ony goramak hakynda)
According to Art. 17.2 of Law No. 519-V, the transborder transfer of personal data to the territory of foreign countries shall only take place if the protection of personal data is guaranteed by those countries. Furthermore, Art. 17.3. points out that the cross-border transfer of personal data to the territory of foreign countries that do not ensure the protection of personal data may be carried out in the following cases: 1) if the data subject has given his/her written consent to the cross-border transfer of his personal data; 2) if it is provided for by international agreements approved by Turkmenistan; 3) if provided by the laws of Turkmenistan, if it is necessary for the purposes of protecting the principles of constitutional structure, human and civil rights and freedoms, public health and morals, public order, protecting the country and ensuring state security; 4) to protect the life, health, other legal interests, constitutional rights and freedoms of the data subject or other persons, if it is not possible to obtain the data subject's consent. Otherwise, pursuant to Art. 17.4, the international transfer of personal data abroad may be prohibited or restricted by the legislation of Turkmenistan.
Coverage Horizontal