Kyrgyzstan: Plagiarized internet gagging bill getting easy ride through parliament, 20 June 2020

Parliament in Kyrgyzstan is considering a bill that would give authorities the power to shut down or restrict access to websites containing information that they decree to be inaccurate.

Gulshat Asylbayeva, a lawmaker behind the bill, said at a hearing in parliament on June 19 that the legislation would, among other things, help protect the honor and dignity of people smeared with false online claims.

“Why should I not be able to protect my rights? Why should I have to read this dirt contained in fake news?” Asylbayeva said in parliament...

If adopted in its current form, the law would also oblige local internet service providers to store the data of their customers, such as photos, videos and audio, for a period of up to six months and to yield them to authorized government agencies upon request.