Orda.kz Faces Campaign Targeting Journalists and Editorial Staff

Journalists at Orda.kz are experiencing an organized campaign of harassment, including doxxing, impersonation, and account interference.

The personal phone numbers of Orda employees have been published on platforms such as OLX under misleading classified ads for items, animals, and services. These numbers have also been submitted through feedback forms on websites for car dealerships, medical clinics, and crisis centers, resulting in a continuous stream of unsolicited calls and messages that disrupt personal privacy and professional work.

Fake social media profiles have been created using names and photographs of staff members. In some instances, false information — including fabricated reports about the death of editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova — has been disseminated under their names.

Threats to personal safety have been delivered via encrypted messaging platforms.

Our social network accounts have also been targeted by coordinated spam and complaint campaigns. Following mass reports, Orda’s TikTok and Facebook pages were temporarily blocked. The organization’s Instagram account was blocked twice and restored only after Meta’s intervention.

This week, the personal account of Gulnara Bazhkenova was hacked.

Orda.kz is preparing official statements for law enforcement, but we express limited confidence in the likelihood of a thorough investigation.

All of this, we believe, is being carried out by individuals with access to administrative resources, influence, and financial means within Kazakhstan. These events followed unsuccessful attempts to control the media.

Orda will hold a press conference soon to present further details.

Original Author: Editorial