Uzbekistan plans to tighten responsibility for creating fakes and blackmail 

The Senate is considering a bill related to cybercrime and illegal trafficking in crypto-assets, the press service of the upper house of Oliy Majlis reported.

The document involves introducing amendments to the Criminal, Criminal Procedural Codes and Administrative Responsibility Codes. The relevant committee studied them at a meeting on October 24.

According to experts, cases of mobile devices being blocked by malicious applications are becoming more frequent. In addition, there is a growing number of reports of extortion of money and other material benefits on social networks under the threat of account deletion or unwanted publication of personal data.

In addition, there is falsification of photos, voices and other biometric data of individuals using special programs (deepfakes) in cyberspace. The Criminal Code proposes to outline increased liability for such offenses.

It is also planned to outline criminal and administrative liability for illegal actions with crypto-assets. In particular, it covers unauthorized mining.

Senators recommended that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs strengthen public agitation in the field of cybersecurity. The bill will be considered at one of the subsequent plenary sessions of the upper house.

The Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis adopted the bill in the second and final readings on September 19. The National Agency for Advanced Projects (NAAP) then noted only liability for violations in the field of circulation of crypto assets, including illegal mining.

Shortly before this, Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a law establishing a fine of 150 BCAs (49.5 million soums) for mining without permission. In turn, the fine for service providers in the field of crypto-asset turnover will be 300 BCAs (99 million soums).