OPEN LETTER
Dear deputies!
You are to consider the draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Information and Communications", a significant part of which is devoted to proposed amendments and additions to the Law of RK "On Mass Media".
We draw your attention to the fact that the current Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan of July 23, 1999 No. 451-I "On Mass Media" does not comply with the requirements for regulatory legal acts. 98% of its articles were amended (see http://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=1013966), whereas, according to cl. 9, Art. 26 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Legal Acts", if amendments constitute half of the text of a law, the new edition of such law is to be adopted. Further amendments will make this contradiction even worse.
Moreover, the very basis o the current law is obsolete. It is oriented towards traditional media, while online publications play an increasingly important role in obtaining and disseminating socially important information. Created on the basis of legislative acts of the Soviet era, it on the one hand does not allow to implement legal restrictions on freedom of expression for the entire population and, on the other, to provide real media with the legitimate guarantees and privileges necessary to satisfy public interests in obtaining and disseminating information.
The root of the problem lies in the fact that, with the very concept of "mass media" has fundamentally changed due to the development of information and communication technologies, and requires an adequate definition. Numerous attempts to fit internet resources into the structure of the current media law are illogical and contradictory. In accordance with the current law the notion of “media” means all Internet resources, even those used for state and business purposes, such as gaming and trading platforms, social networks, etc.
The amendments to the media law proposedin the drat law will not change the situation. Many of them will hinder the public struggle against corruption, the rapid dissemination of socially important information and freedom of expression. Proposals to make the registration of the network media voluntary but not mandatory will not improve the situation, since the former registration conditions and other legal provisions that are still in force are unacceptable for online media.
Having regard to the above, we offer:
1. To exclude amendments and additions to the Law "On Mass Media" from the draft law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Information and Communication Issues" and corresponding amendments and additions to other legislative acts;
2. To instruct the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan to create a working group of experts representing the government and civil society to draft a bill regulating the activities of mass media in the digital age.
We are sure that, first of all, it is necessary to give a new definition of the notion of "mass media", based on the Recommendation of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Council of Europe "On a new concept of the media". After determining the criteria of modern media and indicators for checking the applicant's compliance with these criteria, it will be necessary to develop a system of rights and privileges for the media and journalists, as well as a system of responsibility for distributing unacceptable content and regulating many other aspects.
We are aware of the complexity and level of efforts ahead and are ready to participate in addressing this challenge in cooperation with state bodies in the interests of Kazakhstan and the general public.
International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech "Adіl soz"
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Public Foundation "Charter for Human Rights"
Legal Media Center
