The Constitution of Kazakhstan guarantees freedom of press, but privately owned and opposition media have been subject of censorship.
[1] Reporters Without Borders noted in 2024 that "repressive reforms" have since 1997 seriously limited the freedom of the press in Kazakhstan, and stated that "the media landscape is now essentially a propaganda outlet for the Kazakh regime".
[8] In July, Petrushova was given an eighteen-month jail sentence on tax charges, but served no time after a judge ruled that the case fell under an amnesty.
[9] (Petrushova eventually left the country for Russia, where she continued to publish via the Internet, living apart from her family for their safety.
The paper's deputy editor Galina Dyrdina claimed the closure was politically motivated, and vowed to appeal.
[11] In November 2012, before the anniversary of the Mangystau riots, Kazakh authorities raided and searched Respublika's office and again suspended its publication while a verdict on criminal charges was still pending.
In 2012 the International Press Institute called for the government to investigate an assault on Ularbek Baitailaq—a contributor to opposition media DAT and Tortinshi Bilik, and archivist of the Kazakh National Archive).
In July, 2009, the government passed amendments to laws on[citation needed] the Internet which some critics claimed unduly restrictive.
[20] A broadcasting bill implemented in December 2011 was aimed at improving the content of the national media, and to 'protect' it from external influence.
In November 2012, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal were cited in a lawsuit filed by Kazakh prosecutors seeking to shut down opposition media outlets.
[citation needed] The following month a court in Almaty ruled that a number of opposition media outlets, such as the television channels Stan TV and K+ and newspapers Vzglyad and Respublika, had to close due to their "extremist" views.
On 13 June 2005 a court in Almaty ordered former Information Minister Altynbek Sarsenbaev (the opposition leader assassinated in January 2006) to pay 1 million tenge ($7,500) in damages for 'defaming' Khabar news agency.
Media watchdog groups such as ARTICLE 19 have voiced their concern over the government's moves in the past few years to silence the opposition.
Criticism of government employees can lead to lawsuits, and news laws against "extremism" have been used to shut down opposition media sources.