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.