The administrator of the Qaznews24 social networking site that publishes satirical news is charged with spreading false information.
On May 15, referring to the investigation, the Polisia.kz web portal informed the administrator the Qaznews24 social network, a citizen of Kazakhstan Temirlan Ensebek was a suspect in a criminal investigation under Article 274 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Dissemination of deliberately false information that is seriously prejudicial to the rights and legitimate interests of citizens or the protected interests of the society or state in the mass media and telecommunication networks”.
Should there be prima facie evidence of a criminal offence, the abovementioned article of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides for a hefty fine or imprisonment of up to three years.
The authorities became concerned that a number of publications on the current situation in the country had evoked a wide social media response. The author took up travel restrictions and average monthly wages in these publications. These publications also stated that the voters would bear criminal responsibility instead of parliamentarians, the articles for rape and harassment would be removed from the Criminal Code and incorporated in the Administrative Code, the law on compulsory declaration of income would be revoked, etc.
Misinformation was shared among over 5,000 subscribers, and though the content was absurd, subscribers actively reposted, duplicated and shared news. The web portal has been neutralized.
Temirlan noted that he had signed a confidential and non-disclosure agreement on any details of the investigation and was allowed to go home. The young citizen of Kazakhstan emphasised that any similarity with individuals was purely coincidental, this news was unreal and the content was satirical, he had not spread any misinformation and therefore could not be considered a criminal.
