Watchdog

NUR-SULTAN -- The Kazakh parliament's lower chamber, the Mazhilis, has approved a controversial bill that would allow authorities to shut down social media and messaging platforms to protect users from cyberbullying. Critics of the legislation, however, have warned that it could be used by the state to silence its critics.

According to a bill amending the law on the protection of children's rights, foreign social media networks and messaging services would be obliged to register in Kazakhstan and set up local offices to receive permission to operate in the Central Asian nation.

Companies affected will have six months to register in Kazakhstan and open local offices once the bill is endorsed into law by the president.

The bill was initiated by lawmakers Aidos Sarym and Dinara Zakieva, who also proposed allowing regulators to block websites without court decisions.

Internet experts and activists have criticized the bill, saying that it would give authorities tighter control over social networks and messengers, while several rallies were held in recent weeks to protest against the legislation.

Diana Okremova, the chairwoman of the Legal Media Center group which defends the rights of Internet users, told RFE/RL that the bill needs additional work as there are no clear definitions of what can be recognized as cyberbullying of children or what the bill calls the "distribution of dangerous information."

Okremova pointed to another controversial law, one on inciting social discord, which she said also has "unclear definitions" that have allowed the authorities to jail dozens of civil rights activists, journalists, bloggers, and representatives of religious groups in recent years.

Rights activists have accused Kazakh authorities of purposely using "unclear text" in legislation to crack down on dissent.

The bill now must be signed by President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to become a law.

International human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan frequently blocks or restricts access to social networks. In its annual report on the level of Internet freedom in the world, Freedom House defined Kazakhstan as a "not free" country.

With reporting by Asemgul Mukhitqyzy of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service

MINSK -- A deputy director at Belarus's leading state-run news agency, BelTA, has been sentenced to five years in prison for sharing information with opposition groups as he looked to avoid repercussions for cooperating with the authorities when it appeared authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka would be pushed from power.

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said on April 19 that Judge Alyaksandr Vouk of the Soviet district court in the Belarusian capital sentenced Syarhey Adzyarykha on January 10 after finding him guilty of abuse of duty.

Details of the trial only became available now even though the Minsk City Court rejected Adzyarykha's appeal on March 15, which means that he will soon be taken to a penal colony to begin serving his term.

Investigators accused Adzyarykha of providing information to the opposition People's Anti-Crisis Leadership group and the Nik & Maik opposition Telegram channel in an attempt to distance himself from Lukashenka's regime amid mass protests following a disputed August 2020 election.

Months before the election, which Lukashenka claimed to win but opposition leaders said was rigged, Adzyarykha was awarded with a special prize from the president for his "high professionalism and personal contribution to the development of the state's information policy."

The court determined that he had abused his duty as a journalist by then leaking information to discredit Lukashenka and distance himself from the regime if and when it fell.

Hundreds of Belarusians have faced trials linked to the protests against Lukashenka over the results of the election, which handed him a sixth consecutive term.

Much of the opposition leadership has since been jailed or forced into exile. Several protesters have been killed and there have also been credible reports of torture during the widening security crackdown.