Kazakh Bloggers May Be Fined For Unofficial Political Endorsements

Bloggers in Kazakhstan may face administrative liability for hidden campaigning, even if they are not paid and do not have an official contract with a candidate or party, Orda.kz reports.

The Central Election Commission discussed the issue during a debate on amendments to election legislation. Deputy Nikita Shatalov raised a hypothetical example in which a blogger with a large audience regularly appears on camera wearing a cap with party symbols and publicly supports a candidate, while receiving no money and signing no agreements.

CEC Secretary Shavkat Utemisov said that, under the law, participation in campaign activities must be accompanied by the written consent of the candidate or party for such services to be provided.

If there is no written consent, then it is considered hidden campaigning. Article 118 of the Administrative Code provides for liability for this. In this case, the blogger you mentioned did not contact the candidate in any way, so he would be considered to be conducting hidden campaigning. This would be legally qualified as such.As for the blogger’s obligation to provide the platform to other candidates or parties, that depends on whether he had previously entered into contractual relations with another candidate. If the blogger has already provided a platform to a candidate or party on a contractual basis, he is obliged to provide that platform to others as well,Utemisov said.

According to Utemisov, if posts are published without payment and without official agreements, that obligation does not arise.

Original author: Ilya Astakhov

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