In Kazakhstan, the website of the human rights organization is blacklisted
The Ministry of Information and Social Development (MISD) of Kazakhstan has blacklisted the website of the Kazakhstan’s International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz”. At the same time, the representatives of Foundation stated that they did not know anything about this.
The Kazakhstan’s International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” was established on April 12, 1999. The main mission of the Foundation is the establishment of an open civil society through the establishment of free, objective and progressive journalism in the country’s daily life. The Foundation is engaged in systematic monitoring of violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan, legislative activities: preparing draft laws in the field of media and analyzing draft laws, training seminars on legal topics for journalists, preparing and publishing manuals for journalists, legal assistance to media workers, as well as linguistic examination of controversial texts. The Foundation’s projects are supported by major international organizations such as the Soros Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, the American Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Commission in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Cluster Bureau of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the non-governmental organization “Article 19” (it stands for freedom of expression), the non-governmental organization MLDI “Media Legal Defense Initiative” (Great Britain), the International Association for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “IFEX”, the Finnish Fund for Media, Information and Development “VIKES”, as well as a number of foreign embassies in Kazakhstan.
“The lawyer, Elzhan Kabyshev, told us amazing information. It turns out that our website www.adilsoz.kz, the smooth operation and updating of which we carefully monitor, has long been blacklisted. On the MISD’s portal, it is listed in the register of Internet resources disseminating illegal information,” says Tamara Kaleeva, head of the Foundation “Adil Soz”. “When did this happen? On what basis? It turns out that the Ministry received some kind of audio material with reference to the City court of Rudny. What kind of court document is this? When was it published? Who made the false denunciation to the Ministry? Nothing is known. However, the denunciation was registered under the number 30-30-5/2864-И, and they accept a case for consideration.”
According to Kaleeva, over 20 years of its existence, the Foundation “Adil Soz” has never violated the current legislation, was not a participant in any lawsuit. It has never received instructions from the General Prosecutor’s office or the State Control Committee in the field of communications on violation of the legislation of Kazakhstan. There was no court decision to block the Foundation’s website.
“The International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” appealed to the Minister of Information and Social Development, Dauren Abaev, with a request to remove its site from the database of blocked Internet resources,” the Foundation informed.
Note, the register of blocked sites was created in Kazakhstan in 2016. The MISD’s site even has a separate service that allows any user to complain about a particular site.
“In this section you can inform the authorized body, represented by the Information Committee of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, about Internet resources that disseminate information that violates the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to the submitted information, the Ministry will take all necessary measures to stop the spread of illegal information in the country,” the service description says.
The following is a list of violations users may complain about. Among them, there are the propaganda of suicide, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors, the cult of cruelty and violence, social, racial, national, religious, estate and tribal superiority, a demonstration of film and video production of a pornographic and special sexual-erotic nature, the conduct of election campaigning, propaganda or agitation of violent changes in the constitutional system, violation of the integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan, propaganda of extremism or terrorism, publication of material and the dissemination of information aimed at inciting ethnic and religious hatred, online casino, unfair and misleading advertising, etc.
“The registry was created after the Law “On communications” was introduced in 2015 that gave the right to the Prosecutor General’s office and the State Control Committee in the field of communications to block sites without a court decision. When these amendments were discussed, the Foundation “Adil Soz”, like many human rights activists, journalists, bloggers, and owners of Internet resources, opposed their adoption. We pointed out to the developers and deputies that such norms would “untie the hands” of officials and lead to unjustified blockages. And now, they themselves have encountered this. The Foundation’s website is not blocked, but has been blacklisted,” the Foundation “Adil Soz” notes.
