Internet and New Media Use by Central Asian Citizens Before and Towards the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This research examines the differences and similarities in the Internet, chat room, messenger, and social media use by citizens in Central Asia before and towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five stans – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – have varying levels of authoritarianism and media usage, especially new media use, might differ among these countries. Drawing on Central Asia Barometer, I demonstrate such comparisons over three years using data collected in 2019 and 2022. In addition to this, I also analyse the frequencies of Internet use by Central Asian people and which chat rooms, messengers, and social media were used most often in the region. The results and analysis show that by the end of the pandemic, citizens of all five republics began to use the Internet more, albeit in different volumes, compared to 2019. Accordingly, the frequency of use of new media (chat rooms, messengers, and social media) was also positive with varying degrees of difference. Possible explanations for these results and the usefulness of this study are discussed.