Tourists will now be able to photograph the streets of Uzbek cities—a provision to this effect is contained in President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's decree "On measures to develop tourism." Previously, whenever a visitor to the country took out a camera or even a cell phone and tried to take a photo, a police officer would appear almost immediately and prohibit filming.
A whole collection of absurd photography bans in Uzbekistan has been compiled online: "They banned taking pictures of nature from the train window," "They banned entering the Mirabad market with a camera," "They banned taking pictures near the Navoi Theater," and so on—all of these cases had nothing to do with photographing government buildings.
Officially, it's illegal to photograph the Tashkent metro, so popular with tourists, or on board Uzbekistan Airways, or any other transportation infrastructure. Photographing government buildings and industrial plants is also prohibited. However, authorities found it easier to ban any photography, even of the most innocuous objects. They demanded that the photos be deleted, and if they refused, they would be brought to the police station.
According to Argumenty i Fakty, according to a decree from the President of Uzbekistan, a list of sites that will remain prohibited from being filmed will be approved separately. It is expected that it will include protected government institutions and businesses.
Source: travel.ru