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Kazakh amendments to Internet regulations contradict OSCE principlesASTANA, Apr 18, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- The amendments to the draft law "On Information and Communication Network" debated in the Kazakh parliament, significantly restrict the freedom of opinion in the Internet and contradicts the OSCE principles, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Andrei Richter commented, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. The expert highlighted Kazakhstan's commitment to comply with "the UN and OSCE standards on freedom of expression and freedom of press." Kazakhstan will take the chair in the OSCE in 2010. "The suggestion of qualifying forums, chat rooms, blogs an other similar internet resources as media outlets is questionable," he said. Richter believes that forcing a journalist status upon a blog writer or a chat participant and classifying all Internet resources as media outlets will lead to restriction of freedom of expression in the Internet which is contradictory to Kazakhstan's commitments as an OSCE member. Associating Kazakhstan's journalism with blogs and internet-chats will lead to "deterioration of professional standards, eroding of principles of journalistic work, utter rejection of self-regulation and finally weakening of social responsibility and the role of traditional media in the society." "All those factors will eventually limit the freedom of press in Kazakhstan," said the OSCE expert. The expert also believes that the amendments put restrictions on both Internet resources and traditional medial outlets. OSCE expert recommends: * to abolish an automatic classification of all internet resources as media outlets; * - to set clear criteria concerning the types of Internet resources which can or can not constitute "media;" * to preserve the right of an Internet resource to recognize itself as a media outlet; * all the restrictions on freedom of speech in the draft law should be reviewed in the light of compliance with international law standards; * to remove a possibility of suspending the issue (broadcast) of a media outlet as a form of penalty; * to abolish norms prohibiting access to foreign Internet resources from the territory of Kazakhstan; * to restore the right of citizens to unrestricted access to foreign media. The bill submitted to the parliament on January 5 suggested applying restrictions to websites, chats rooms, blogs and e-libraries as media outlets. The law stipulated suspension or closure of websites without a court order in case of an obvious breach of law. On January 19 the journalistic community of Kazakhstan criticized the amendments to Internet regulations drafted by the State Information and Communications Agency. |