The Senate returned the draft law on amendments to the protection of the rights of the child
The draft Law previously caused widespread criticism regarding the procedure proposed in it for responding to the facts of cyberbullying of a child.
On April 14, 2022, the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan decided to return it for revision. In particular, the deputies did not agree with giving the Ministry of Information and Public Development the authority to prepare and submit an opinion on the recognition of the fact of cyberbullying. Based on the conclusion, it was planned to initiate restriction or blocking of the work of social networks and messengers. It is proposed to exclude this provision from the draft law. Among the proposed new amendments, the adoption of the above-mentioned conclusion by the expert group should be highlighted in the case of an appeal by the legal representatives of the child.
At the same time, the decision to delete or restrict remains, as previously proposed by the deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament, for Internet resources. Contact with them will be provided through official representatives. Currently, laws with different mechanisms for responding to information containing elements of bullying against a particular child have been adopted in Germany, France, and the United States. Earlier, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Information and Public Development Kemelbek Oishybayev reported that in 2020, the Ministry recorded about 70,000 facts of cyberbullying, while 1,800 requests were sent to the administrations of social networks and messengers with a request to delete this or that material. In 2021, the Ministry identified about 140 thousand violations and sent about 1,700 appeals to Internet platforms.
Thus, the bill will be reviewed by deputies in the part that caused a resonance.