Kazakhstan: MPs Debate Violence and Profanity in TV Series, Call for Stricter Oversight

At a Majilis meeting on October 15, deputies voiced concern over the growing presence of violence and profanity in Kazakhstani television series and media.

Lawmakers questioned representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Information, and the Ministry of Education about the issue, Orda.kz reports.

MP Murat Abenov reminded officials that parliament had already amended legislation to address problematic depictions in media, yet controversial content still appears on national television.

We also discussed the issue of bride kidnapping and amended the law. But despite this, I still see confusing things in the media. The national channel promotes bride kidnapping — they have a series where they say things like, ‘If you don’t agree, I’ll steal you,’ and ‘It’s no big deal, I’ve been kidnapped too, we’re perfectly fine, after all.’ It seems like some people justify this phenomenon, while others oppose it. It’s contrary to state policy,
said Abenov.

Under the new law, such materials will be monitored and blocked. If a film or series containing such scenes is released, the Ministry of Culture will submit it to us for review. We evaluate the content to determine whether it’s legitimate propaganda or not, and we issue a conclusion. This work is ongoing. Of course, there are still shortcomings: some films still get through. Therefore, even after the law is passed, it will need to be further refined and efforts in this area will need to be stepped up,
 said Sadenov.

If such an incident occurs, we will take specific measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again. If it concerns our domestic series, we will take action. If it’s foreign content, we won’t allow it to air. We’re working proactively with our experts and public organizations,
 Iskakov stated.

This requires prevention. Look at the films our youth are watching today: Sake, Pake, The Prosecutor, Qara-Qara, School 105. In these series, every other word is a curse. Is this normal? It’s a disaster. Where are we headed? The President has clearly stated: we need to work with society — both adults and young people. But when every word in films is accompanied by curses, and this is presented to children as the norm, it’s appalling. Why do we allow this? I ask you to answer: what should we do today, what measures should be taken?
 said Beksultanov.

The new bill introduces amendments to the Administrative Code, which provide for penalties for the distribution and promotion of offensive content, including profanity. This means that all mechanisms for identifying, restricting, and holding accountable will be in place. We will work towards this goal,
 he explained.

A representative of the Ministry of Education added that schools are already implementing the “Adal Azamat” (Honest Citizen) program to instill moral values in students and prevent antisocial behavior among youth.

However, not all deputies supported tighter restrictions.

Rinat Zayit, MP and poet, warned against excessive censorship, arguing that it could harm national creativity.

There’s some talk going on here that I don’t understand. There’s the concept of ‘work of art.’ Yes, I agree that obscene language is unacceptable. But won’t we end up judging all my peers who sang about kidnapping eight girls in one night? Let me remind you: there’s a folk song: ‘If you truly love me, my dear, be ready to run away tomorrow night.’ So my first question is: who will conduct this examination? Are they competent, and do we know them? And second: how will you protect works of art? Does it make any difference from a legal perspective? We don’t want to lose all our folklore tomorrow. Otherwise, we won’t even be able to read the words of the late Akseleu Seidimbek (Beypil sozder) without a care,
 said Zayit.

We’ll certainly look into what you’re saying about kidnapping girls. We need to look at the plot. If the main character says he’s going to kidnap a girl, and she agrees, that’s one thing. We can ask the director to make some edits, but changing the entire plot, let alone punishing someone — that’s not going to happen,
 he clarified.

According to Iskakov, the goal is not to ban folklore or traditional art, but to align modern media content with state policy and moral standards.

Original Author: Artyom Volkov