The new media law does not require mandatory registration of media outlets. Deputy Head of the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan Chyngyz Esengul uulu announced during the presentation of the revised bill.
He noted that unlike previous versions of the bill, which required mandatory registration of all media, including various websites, the new version offers voluntary registration for online (Internet) media, audio, video and newsreel programs.
«This change recognizes the diversity of media formats and allows to avoid unnecessary regulation of new media, giving them the opportunity to independently decide whether to register as a media,» the drafters of the bill noted.
The bill has to undergo public discussion, and its initiator will likely be the president or the Cabinet of Ministers. Members of the working group expect that the text of the document will remain unchanged at the time of its submission for public discussion and will retain the basic principles laid down in the sixth version of the draft law on the media at the time of its registration in the Parliament.
In early March the President of Kyrgyzstan held a closed meeting with the heads of leading media outlets and well-known journalists. Representatives of the media raised, among other things, the issue of the media law. Sadyr Japarov promised to look into it.
On March 13, spokesman for the president Askat Alagozov announced that, on the instructions of the head of state, the bill on mass media, which was adopted in the first reading by a parliamentary committee, was withdrawn.
The bill developed by the presidential administration was submitted to the Parliament in early January. This is the fifth version of the document; it was finalized by members of the working group created by order of the head of state Sadyr Japarov in December 2022. However, the draft law was not finalized, agreed upon or approved by all members of the working group. There was no clause-by-clause discussion.
The working group on the new media law included five people from the presidential administration: the head of the Legal Support Department Murat Ukushev, a department expert, representatives of the Legal Department, the press service and the Ministry of Culture, as well as 15 media representatives.
