Kazakhstan website blocked after covering Nazarbayev offshore allegations, 14 October 2021

Journalists fear a new social media law could put censorship into overdrive.

A Kazakh news website that dared to report on the family of first president Nursultan Nazarbayev became immediately unavailable inside the country. Journalists see this as the opening salvo in a new wave of censorship as a new law regulating social media moves through parliament.

Last week brought news of the latest offshore wealth leak, dubbed the “Pandora Papers” – a splurge of 12 million files on offshore holdings from 14 different sources...

Hola News has been punished after crossing the first family’s path before... Like many other independent news websites, its model is heavily reliant on social media, including an Instagram account boasting nearly 300,000 followers.

It is here that Kazakh lawmakers are now turning their attentions with a draft law that would force social media companies to register local affiliates headed by Kazakh nationals. Outlets that fail to do this could be blocked or slowed, according to the proposals that passed their first reading in parliament’s lower house in September...