Facebook account of human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toregozhina blocked

Since 10 August 2026, the Facebook page of Kazakhstani human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toregozhina has been completely blocked, while her Instagram account is at risk of being removed following a coordinated wave of mass reports and strikes.

“Bakhytzhan Toregozhina has been removed from Facebook. Why would that be? She deliberately did not write about the elections. She did not touch on the president or anyone in his circle, and she has not posted anything ‘extremist’ recently. As usual, she was removed for ‘copyright infringement’. Or have they decided to neutralise her ahead of the elections, just to be on the safe side? If that is the case, the list of those removed may soon include others deemed unreliable as well,” journalist and human rights defender Sergei Duvanov commented.

The blocking of Bakhytzhan Toregozhina’s page has become part of a large-scale wave of cyberattacks targeting independent journalists. Human rights defenders and the journalistic community view the developments as a systematic restriction of freedom of expression ahead of the elections scheduled for 23 August.