With a population nearing 20 million, Kazakhstan is the second most populous country in Central Asia, and these numbers are projected to continue growing. The population of Kazakhstan is young, with a median age of 29, and the majority are avid Internet users. The potential for digital entrepreneurship, e-commerce, and online education is vast, and the Internet and digital sector play a significant role in everyday life.
This has not gone unnoticed by the government, which has been trying to control virtual spaces in various ways. For over a decade, the government has intentionally throttled or limited Internet access, particularly during periods of local protests and political unrest. A notable example occurred in January 2022, during nationwide anti-government protests, when the Internet was intentionally shut down for more than five days.
There are numerous other measures in place to control and monitor Internet usage in the country. As of April 2018, Internet users in Kazakhstan can no longer leave anonymous comments online. A law requires websites to register every Internet user who wishes to leave a comment, either by SMS verification or digital signature. Another law requires Internet service providers to monitor content passing through their networks and decide whether to restrict prohibited material. They are also required to prevent their customers from disseminating pornographic, extremist, or terrorist materials, or any other information that does not comply with the country’s laws.
These often broadly defined restrictive regulations have limited any form of criticism of the authorities. The most recent developments are now targeting civil society and independent media.
Last year, the government amended the Tax Code, commonly referred to as the “foreign agents” legislation. This amendment mandates that CSOs and individuals who receive foreign funding and participate in political activities must register as “foreign agents”. The tax authorities are now required to publish a register listing the names and taxpayer numbers of these foreign-funded individuals or entities. The first register was published in September 2023, with the next one following in March 2024. This has numerous implications, including violations of the right to privacy, data protection standards, and the principle of non-discrimination.
And how are civil society and society in general navigating these challenges? We spoke with Adil Jalilov, Director of MediaNet International Centre for Journalism, GIF’s local partner, and an organization with 20 years of experience in working with media and civil society.
“In general, people have accepted the “foreign agents” legislation indifferently or even positively, viewing it as something necessary for society,” explains Jalilov.
Considering this law, as well as other previously mentioned restrictive legislation, Jalilov believes the best starting point is to raise citizens’ awareness and explain the opportunities and challenges that digitalization brings.
“The civil society has the expertise and understanding of the developments in the human and digital rights areas, and we have the capacity to be engaged in improving the situation. However, the biggest problem is that the citizens are not aware of the trends and threats in the field of digital rights. The main question is – how can we better engage and create the awareness among society about these digital transformations and digital rights issues?”
Director of MediaNet, Adil Jalilov.
And even though MediaNet has been GIF’s local partner for less than a year, they managed to leverage the expertise of GIF Consortium, comprising of more than 100 partner organizations, working across 39 countries.
“Our partnership with GIF is undeniably mutually beneficial, as we share the same values that we aim to promote. Despite becoming GIF’s partner only recently, we have already seen significant benefits. For instance, thanks to our colleague Moldir’s fellowship at Access Now, organized and supported by GIF, MediaNet strengthened its capacity to engage in international advocacy campaigns. Additionally, we have helped several journalists, activists, and organizations with social media blockages and continue to do so. We have unblocked several important accounts,” says Jalilov.
Another excellent example of synergy under the GIF Consortium was the collaborative effort of GIF’s partners to raise awareness about the impact of the “foreign agents” legislation.
GIF served as a connector, linking MediaNet with Global Network Initiative (GNI). GNI then drafted the initial version of the blog post, after which experts from MediaNet in Kazakhstan contributed to certain aspects of the blog post. MediaNet also undertook the task of translating and localizing the blog post into Kazakh and Russian languages and disseminating it among local media.
“The impact of these efforts has been largely positive, primarily because there has not been any radical development of this legislation in Kazakhstan. Unlike in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, where such laws are introduced at the legislative level, in Kazakhstan, it is applied as a decree of the tax authority. The situation has not worsened, and there has not been any recent legislative movement. So, we could consider this as a positive outcome,”
Adil Jalilov, Director of MediaNet.
Jalilov is confident that this synergy was beneficial not only for MediaNet but also for government officials and high-level policymakers.
“Firstly, GNI helped us articulate the negative implications of this law through the lens of personal data protection, something we previously struggled to argue. Secondly, it demonstrated that an internationally recognized platform like GNI is supporting us and is concerned about this issue. Our government respects such international involvement and advocacy. If they see international platforms expressing concern, they are likely to notice that perception. We believe that this blog post has had a positive impact on the situation,” Jalilov concludes.
