Uzbekistan is preparing to introduce tighter oversight of bloggers’ earnings and require the labeling of their advertising content, as authorities move to regulate the fast-growing online influencer market.

Kamola Akhmedjanova, Chief State Tax Inspector of the Economic Analysis and Shadow Economy Monitoring Department at the Tax Committee, said the initiative will partly rely on the experience of Russia, The Caspian Post reports via Uzbek media.

An analysis conducted by the Tax Committee found that more than 2,000 bloggers are currently operating in Uzbekistan. Authorities reviewed the activities of 110 of them: 88 are officially registered, while 22 operate as private individuals.

Checks of electronic invoices revealed that only 66 bloggers actually pay taxes, and even those payments are reportedly very small.

Akhmedjanova noted that the country’s current tax framework already allows authorities to bring bloggers into the taxation system. In the coming days, the Tax Committee plans to present its official position, including a press briefing and detailed guidance on how bloggers should report and pay taxes.

In addition, the committee is working with the Uzbek Ministry of Justice on a new online advertising labeling system. Under the proposal, every promotional post published online would receive a unique identification code, allowing regulators to track advertising activity and ensure transparency in the digital market.