The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, concluded a two-day official visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit, she engaged in a series of productive meetings with various stakeholders, including Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roman Vassilenko, and Assistant to the President on internal policies and communication Ruslan Zheldybay. She also met with members of Parliament, including the Chair of the Committee for Social and Cultural Development of the Mazhilis, Ashkat Aimagambetov, the Chair of the Working Group on Drafting the Law on Mass Media, Zhanarbek Ashimzhanov, and with MP Nikita Shatalov.
Representative Ribeiro discussed current challenges to media freedom, including the safety of journalists and the veracity of information in the digital sphere, the value of establishing an independent media regulatory body, and ongoing media reforms in Kazakhstan. Focus lay on the legal review of the draft Law on Mass Media, requested by the Kazakh authorities and conducted by media law expert Begaim Usenova on commission of the OSCE Media Freedom Representative.
Ribeiro stressed the value of including all relevant stakeholders, such as civil society actors, in legislative processes. She commended several provisions in the current draft law, such as the prohibition of censorship, the reduced statutes of limitations in claims against media outlets, and the reduced term for providing journalists with government information.
She also identified some points in the draft law that could be improved, such as the envisaged process of registration of media outlets, the system of so-called pre-emptive control, as well as remaining vague and overly broad definitions regarding which media fall under the scope of the law.
“I am confident that by taking ample time such improvements can be made in full alignment with international standards,” Riberio said. The Representative welcomed the fact that Kazakh authorities expressed their readiness to take further steps for improvement and both sides agreed to continue their consultations on the draft law at expert level.
