Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan on October 26 announced a two-month block of the website of Azattyk, the local service of broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, under the country’s false information law after the outlet refused to remove a video report on recent border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
«The blocking of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz service is a flagrant act of censorship of a crucial and critical media outlet, and all too clearly shows the immense dangers of Kyrgyzstan’s false information law,» said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. «Kyrgyz authorities must immediately lift the block on Azattyk and repeal the law on false information, which gives state officials carte blanche to quash inconvenient reporting through wholly opaque decisions on alleged ‘inaccuracy.’»
The Ministry of Culture said the report, aired by Current Time TV on September 16 and published on Azattyk’s website, was «unreliable» and «contrary to the national interests of the Kyrgyz Republic.»
In a statement issued the same day, RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said the broadcaster had reviewed the content in question and found «no violation of our standards.» «We will not succumb to pressure to remove balanced reporting from our sites, be it from the Kremlin or the Kyrgyz government,» he added.
The decision to block Azattyk is the third use of the 2021 false information law, previously criticized by CPJ, against a media outlet. In July, authorities blocked the independent news website Respublica. In August, the Ministry of Culture ordered major news outlet 24.kg to be blocked but reversed its decision the same day.
