Turkmenistan launchs its first messaging app ‘BizBarde’

The repressive central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has recently launched its first messaging app ‘BizBarde’, which will allow the exchange of messages, files, photos and videos. Here, the likes of Facebook and Whatsapp are banned. It is one of the world’s most isolated regimes where Western services including Twitter and Viber, along with popular Russian networks Odnoklassniki and VKontakte blocked. The country sits on the world’s 4th largest reserves of natural gas and regularly finds itself at the bottom of global rights and press freedom rankings. Only officially sanctioned media are allowed to operate and internet access is provided solely by the state-owned TurkmenTelecom.