TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Uzbek-language articles in the Wikipedia multilingual encyclopedia are blocked in Uzbekistan, regional news outlets reported, with some blaming the government.
Almost 8,000 entries in the Uzbek language appear to be blocked, Ferghana.ru in eastern Uzbekistan reported.
Users trying to access the Uzbek site are redirected to the MSN.com news aggregator operated by Microsoft Corp., Ferghana.ru and CA-News.org said.
The site is accessible from outside the country, United Press International confirmed, and the blockade does not include Wikipedia in other languages, the Uzbekistan news sites said.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti blamed the government in Tashkent for the blockage to central Asia's most populous nation and said the government blocked the Uzbek-language pages of the encyclopedia at least two other times, in 2007 and 2008.
EurasiaNet.org said Tashkent has blocked hundreds of Web sites for years, including EurasiaNet.org.
Tashkent had no immediate comment despite a spokesman promising to offer one Friday to RIA Novosti.
Uzbekistan has 30 million people, with almost 9 million Web users, government statistics released last month indicated. Wikipedia is Uzbekistan's 10th most visited Web site, statistics cited by Ferghana.ru said.
The site had 7,883 articles late Friday, a UPI spot check indicated.
Press-freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has cited Uzbekistan for online censorship, landing the country on its 2011 list of "enemies of the Internet."
