Elmedia reports new attack on its Instagram account through copyright complaints

The Elmedia editorial team has reported a new wave of Instagram post removals following copyright infringement complaints.

According to the outlet, on 1 September restrictions affected materials about businessman Alexander Mashkevich, assets linked to the Nazarbayev family, the activities of the financial police, and a broadcast by Gulzhan Yergaliyeva about an attack on her family.

Elmedia says the complaints were submitted by a third party using the email address dexterislmai@gmail.com and falsely claiming to be the copyright holder of the outlet’s content. According to the editorial team, Meta’s automated moderation system removed the posts without manual review. Elmedia is preparing counter-notices and appeals in an effort to have the materials restored.

Today, Elmedia said the attack had continued and become more extensive. According to the outlet, complaints began arriving from users operating under different names and email addresses, while the wording of the claims was replaced with standardised messages in English.

This time, Elmedia says, the removals affected economic content, including videos featuring economists Rasul Rysmambetov and Arman Beisembayev discussing the banking sector, household indebtedness, and stagnation in the real economy.

The editorial team considers the developments to be part of a systematic attempt to remove critical publications and continues to submit appeals to Meta.