Kazakhstan - December 2025

The Ministry of Culture and Information has submitted two draft amendments for Parliament’s consideration that seek to more tightly govern and curtail access to online spaces, arguing ‘the measure is necessary to create a safer information environment.’ The draft legislation would ban anyone under 16 years old from social networks and grant the Ministry the authority to block online platforms. The Ministry would be able to block online platforms that fail to comply with its orders to remove content, do not label online content in line with Kazakhstan’s guidelines, or do not provide information on anonymous accounts with more than five thousand followers. In a statement to local media, the Ministry said that the ban on social media use for under-16s would not apply to messengers such as WhatsApp and Telegram nor to online games such as Minecraft and Roblox.

Sources: Government of Kazakhstan, Fergana News, Tengri News

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law banning ‘LGBT propaganda’ on 30 December. The bill passed the lower house of parliament on 12 November, and in the intervening time was strongly criticised by international human rights organizations and United Nations experts for marginalizing LGBTQIA+ Kazakhs and violating children’s rights to education, information and health. 

Sources:  Euronews, Eurasianet, International IDEA