Ministry of Information Demands Protection of Children from Content of Nasha Gazeta

On August 16, the Information Committee of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan sent a letter to the editorial office of the Nasha Gazeta weekly, urging them to rectify violations of legislation concerning the age labeling of printed media. The letter highlights that in July 2023, four issues of Nasha Gazeta failed to include the required age markings, which is in violation of the "On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development" law.

The letter from the Committee states, "… in accordance with paragraph 5 of the Requirements for the age category sign, approved by Order of the Minister of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 551 dated December 27, 2018, for printed periodicals, the age category sign is indicated in a rhombus, located on the front page of the publication and corresponds to the oldest age category of the information products distributed in this issue of the periodical printing media."
The editorial team disagrees with the department's requirement, asserting that the newspaper focuses on socio-political topics. Nasha Gazeta is currently preparing a response to the Ministry of Information.

"Adil soz" comments:

In accordance with subparagraph 2) of paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the Law "On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development", the distribution of information products without an age category sign within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan is prohibited, except for: 2) periodicals specializing in the dissemination of socio-political information. Therefore, if a newspaper falls under this category, the age category mark may be applied or indicated on products on a voluntary basis.